Once Bitten, Twice Shy
by CereuleanBlue
Summary: AU, Bella x Edward, Bella was taken by James and held captive for weeks. She returns home with a special gift. Who was her mysterious savior and what is the cause of her new powers? Will she find the answers she needs in her new home in Forks?
1. Exodus

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer. The rest of this stuff is just what I think about when I'm bored. **

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Chapter 1: Exodus

Bella Swan sat in the window seat of the plane. Her golden-brown eyes seemed transfixed on some faraway point out the window, but her thoughts wandered in the sea of voices that assaulted her from all sides. Her head ached from the constant drone of sound that she was not yet used to tuning out. She had been consciously avoiding other people for this very reason since her return three months ago.

"Excuse me miss, is there anything I can get for you?" The young, blonde stewardess smiled a toothy grin. Her teeth were a brilliant white, but nothing compared to the visions in Bella's nightmares.

_She looks like death warmed over._

Bella winced at the vision of her own face in the smiling girl's thoughts. Her once beautiful mahogany hair was now limp and ragged looking. She saw the dark circles under her eyes and the haggard look on her round face more clearly than even looking in a mirror. Her skin was so pale that it almost looked gray under the weak lights of the airplane.

"Just some water, thanks." Bella tried to smile faintly to at least improve her appearance for the moment as the young woman hurried off to fill her request. She grabbed the backpack sitting on the floor in front of her and quickly shuffled through the front pocket for the bottle of aspirin her mother Renée had handed her before leaving. She had been having headaches on a regular basis for three months and usually carried something with her for the incessantly throbbing pain.

"Here you are, miss. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No thank you."

"Just let me know if there is anything you need." _Besides a good night's sleep._

With that final thought, the girl turned and walked towards the front of the plane. Bella quickly took two of the aspirin from the bottle and popped them into her mouth, chasing them down with a quick swallow of water from the small plastic cup the stewardess had handed her. She leaned her head back on the seat rest and closed her eyes, trying to tune out the noise inside her head.

_I think I forgot to turn off the stove. I hope . . . _

_. . . he's cheating on me I know. . . _

_. . . stewardess is hot. Just look at . . ._

_. . . need to pay the credit card bill when I get . . ._

On and on the cacophony continued. She was never able to completely rid it from her mind unless she was absolutely alone. Even Renée could interject her thoughts into Bella's sensitive mind from the next room. Only once in the past three months had there been silence inside her head. One night when she was sitting alone in the desert watching the stars, she realized that the sound was gone. She had probably been the only person around for miles.

She was slowly learning to tame the tirade of thoughts, but it took a lot of concentration to get it down to the point that it became a dull hum she was able to sleep through. After a half an hour of concerted effort, Bella was finally able to drift off.

_Flash of pale white skin in the moonlight. His face is beautiful, and his long blonde hair is shining in the silver light. His brilliant teeth bared and snarling. She can feel them sinking excruciatingly slowly into the skin of her arm and the burning of the venom as it leaked into the flesh of her wrist. The pain is amazing, causing her to see a brilliant white light behind her eyelids. Suddenly there is a pulling, and the burning venom is quickly drawn out of her arm along with most of the rest of the blood in her body. Smiling, he removes his pale lips from her skin, and she can see the bite mark that is left behind already beginning to heal itself. From off in the distance, she can hear screaming . . ._

"_Wake up. . ."_

"Miss, wake up! Are you alright? You're dreaming."

It was the stewardess who had brought her a cup of water earlier, shaking her into awareness. Bella slowly blinked her eyes and realized from the rawness of her throat that she must have been the one who was screaming. The eyes of every passenger were on her terrified and confused face. She could hear their thoughts, all centered on her.

_Is she alright? _

_What's going on?_

_Must have been dreaming._

Bella could feel the blood rush to her face. She should have known better than to try to sleep. There hadn't been a night in the past three months that his face wasn't behind her eyelids when they were closed. He was the reason she was running away from the only home she had ever been able to remember.

Renée had moved to Phoenix when her daughter was only eighteen months old, leaving Charlie behind in Forks, Washington. It was to Forks that Bella now fled, trying to outrun a nightmare that seemed to follow her no matter how quickly she ran. She knew that she had nothing to fear from him. He was long ago dead, for good this time, but he still haunted her dreams.

She quickly gathered her thoughts and tried to smile at the young lady with such concern on her beautiful face.

"I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare."

"You were screaming. . ."

"Yes, it happens sometimes. Please excuse me. I'll try not to fall asleep again. Could you please bring me some coffee?" Bella tried to be as polite as possible, but her heart still thrummed in her chest, beating at a million miles an hour. She wanted nothing more than to get some time and space to herself.

"Sure, um, is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you. Just coffee."

As the stewardess walked away, Bella glanced at her watch. There was only an hour left before the plane touched down at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle, and Charlie would be waiting for her. It was nearly a four-hour drive from Seattle to Forks, and Bella anticipated much of it would be spent in silence.

Silence. That would be a nice change. Charlie's thoughts were hard to read, and when she wasn't trying, it was nearly impossible for her to hear anything from him. It was peaceful for her to spend time with him.

Renée's mind was constantly humming with thoughts, and Bella didn't think she could handle it much longer. She had never realized exactly how manic her mother had really been until she had returned from her living nightmare with a new skill, and now she knew, Renée's thoughts were never quiet or peaceful. Her mind jumped in a haphazard manner from one thing to the next with barely a moment's pause in between.

It confused her at first. She hadn't known what these sounds in her head were. She actually thought she was hearing "voices." It slowly came to her that she was hearing the thoughts of the hospital staff that had been working around her nearly twenty-four hours a day to bring her back from the brink of death.

She had no memory of being found by the police abandoned in the Arizona desert. The officer who found her had come to check on her shortly after she regained consciousness, and she knew, from the pattern of his thoughts, that when he found her he had believed she was already dead. Her heart had nearly stopped beating, but there was a faint pulse when he'd finally gathered up the courage to check. He had loaded her up in his cruiser and driven her to the nearest emergency room. He had never been more scared of anything in his life. He was a young man, newly graduated from the police academy, and this incident had him already considering a new line of work.

The staff of the hospital had found dozens of healed cuts on her arms and neck. The scars were very faint as though they had been there for months. However, they could find no reason for her body to be so low on blood. They had checked her for internal bleeding, cancer of the bone marrow, and every other disease which could possibly have caused her to be in this state. They found nothing.

The police asked her a million questions about where she had been for the month-long span of time during which nearly the entire state had been looking for her. Even Charlie had taken a leave of absence from his job as the police chief of the Forks Police Department to come and help in the search. Bella refused to answer even the simplest questions about what had happened to her. She claimed to have no memory about the ordeal, and the psychiatrist that had begun treating her in the hospital was having thoughts about something called PTSD. He had urged her parents not to push her. He said her memories might return in time, but pushing her could cause a psychotic break.

She refused to answer their questions because she was afraid that one of them might return for her. He was dead, but there had been others. On several occasions, he had friends over to their little hideout. She feared what they would do if she ever dared to breathe a word of their presence to anyone. So she continued to feign amnesia and claimed to remember nothing of the weeks she had been missing.

After two weeks in the hospital, she had been returned to her home, but somehow it no longer felt like home to her. There was an air of danger about the place. It wasn't safe, no place was safe, not from them. That was when the nightmares began.

It wasn't always the same dream. Sometimes she relived different moments from the "missing month" as Renée had begun to refer to it, but it was always about the same person. Him. . .

She couldn't even bring herself to think his name in case it might draw another one of his kind to her. Who knew how many of them lived in Phoenix? There had been at least one, and that had been more than enough for Bella.

She pushed up the sleeves on her arms and looked down at the dozens of healed cuts there. They glistened in the morning sun like thousands of diamonds had been embedded in her skin. She quickly pulled her sleeve down as the young lady arrived with the cup of coffee she had asked for.

"Here you go. Are you going to be alright?"

Bella sensed the sincerity in the young woman's thoughts and smiled up at her weakly.

"Sure, I'll be fine. Thank you."

"Let me know if you need anything. My name is Tina."

"Sure will, Tina."

Tina walked away, her thoughts still with the young girl sitting in the aisle seat on row thirteen. Bella realized that she had looked horrible when she got on the plane, and even the short nap which had been interrupted by that horrible screaming did nothing to improve the impression that she hadn't slept in days. Tina's attention was quickly diverted by another passenger calling for her. Besides, it was getting close to time for landing, and she needed to start preparing for that as soon as she could.

Bella spent the rest of the flight home thinking about what she would say to Charlie when she arrived. She had called him only yesterday to tell him she was coming for a visit. Bella had been saving as much money as she could over the past couple of years to prepare for college. She'd used a portion of it to pay for her ticket. What she hadn't told him was that she was coming to stay. She was afraid he would refuse to have her interrupt his life there, but maybe the place where she was born would feel like home if no where else did. She could only hope.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter as CereuleanBlue or visit my blog at cereuleanblue (dot ) blogspot (dot) com. :)


	2. Homecoming

Chapter 2: Homecoming

Charlie was waiting patiently for Bella when the plane arrived in Seattle with a worried look on his face. Bella didn't have to be a mind reader to know that he was surprised and scared to see her on such short notice.

"Hey, Bells. How was the flight?" Charlie plastered a smile on his face, but it was unable to cover the worry that shone through his deep, brown eyes.

"Umm, it was ok, I guess." She didn't know how to tell him about the disturbance she had caused on the plane, but she figured if she was going to spend any real amount of time with him he would eventually figure it out. She honestly regretted bringing the chaos that followed her around into his life, but he was the only sanctuary that she had left.

"You ready for a long drive?" He wrapped one arm around her awkwardly. He still treated her like something made from glass, breakable and fragile, since her return from the hospital. She knew all too well how much it had hurt him to see his only daughter in that state and realized exactly what kind of a panic he had been in during the months when she was gone. It was not like Charlie to panic.

Bella sighed, "I guess so. Don't have much choice do we?"

"Not really," Charlie smiled. "Hope you don't mind having just me for company."

She could feel the uncertainty coming from him in waves.

"No, Ch. . . Dad. I like spending time with you. " She smiled in return, and the air around both of them lightened.

_Even your thoughts are quiet Charlie. It's one of the only chances I have to relax without my mind sounding like Grand Central Station at rush hour. _

Bella's head was buzzing from all the voices she was picking up in the busy airport. She was more than ready to get out of the place, so she quickly led her father to the baggage pickup to claim the one suitcase of winter clothes she had been able to scrounge up from her small wardrobe back in Phoenix. It was spring in Washington, so that meant she would need the clothes that she reserved for the dead of winter in Arizona.

The two of them quickly made their way through the huge glass encased foyer of the airport. Bella couldn't help but stare up at the large model airplane hanging from the ceiling. She had been mesmerized by the thing as a younger child during her summer visits to Forks, but Bella hadn't been to Forks in at least three years, not since she had become a teenager.

It was raining outside, and the patter of the rain on the metal roof helped to drown out the sounds inside her head. There were only a few more steps, and she would finally be outside. Somehow, the open air always made her feel a little less claustrophobic.

They easily found Charlie's cruiser in the parking garage. It always stood out like a sore thumb. If Bella was going to be staying here, she would definitely have to see about buying a car to avoid having to ride around Forks in anything so conspicuous.

Charlie loaded her suitcase into the trunk and walked around to open the door for his daughter. She could feel her head beginning to clear. This was one of the reasons she had decided to come here. She'd noticed the effect that Charlie had on her when he was finally allowed to visit her in the hospital. Whenever he was around, she couldn't hear anything he was thinking. She could only get a sense of how he was feeling. She guessed that since Charlie was naturally so quiet his mind must be quiet as well. It suited his personality to a T.

Bella climbed into the front passenger seat of the car and sat patiently as Charlie walked around to the driver's side. He started the engine and carefully pulled out of the parking lot onto the highway. After a few miles, her dad looked over at her, attempting to start a conversation.

"Want to listen to the radio?" He gestured towards the tape deck mounted in the dash of the cruiser. Forks was nowhere near large enough to afford new cars for their police department, not even the chief.

"No, Dad. I kind of have a headache." She rubbed her temples in small circles, attempting to soothe the pressure that seemed to have been building up inside her skull for most of the day. Already, the calm aura of her father was having some effect on it, but it wasn't completely gone yet.

"Oh, sorry. Want me to shut up?" He frowned slightly, placing his focus back on the road ahead of them.

"No, it's okay. Just no music right now, alright?" She smiled gently at her father. This was a lot more chatty than he normally was, and she knew he was trying to keep up his end of the conversation for her.

"Sure Bells."

They rode along in silence for awhile until Charlie decided to bring up the subject she had been dreading since boarding the plane in Phoenix this morning.

"I was kind of surprised when you called me yesterday to let me know you were coming. How long are you planning on staying?" His eyebrows raised slightly. She could tell there was more to the question than just the words he used to phrase it.

Bella considered her answer carefully before responding. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell him, but she decided the best thing to do would be to put all her cards on the table. Charlie wouldn't respond well if he thought she was hiding something from him.

"Well, umm . . . Actually . . . I was wondering if well . . . You wouldn't mind if I kind of stayed here with you for awhile. I mean Mom is kind of busy back at home, and I promise I won't. . ." She spoke quickly, her words stumbling over each other like stones tumbling down a hill.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I don't know, Bella. What did your mom say?"

"I haven't talked to her about it yet." Bella looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She hadn't spoken a word to Renée about her plan to stay here with Charlie. She expected that debate to go about as well as a root canal.

"Listen, sweetie. I don't mind if you want to stay with me _forever_, but you've got to run this by your mother before we decide anything, ok?" He reached an arm across the bench seat, patting her gently on the shoulder.

"Sure, Dad."

Bella's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. She wasn't looking forward to telling Renée that she just couldn't live with her anymore, but the feeling she was getting from Charlie helped lighten her mood. He was actually excited at the prospect of having her live with him. It made her feel wanted for the first time in quite a while.

Not that she didn't think her mother loved her. She knew it for a fact. She felt it every day, every time her mother looked in her direction, but she also felt the concern and the conflicting emotions. Her mother's new husband was going on the road, and she knew that her mother wanted nothing more than to be able to travel with him. However, Bella was still in school.

The car fell into silence again. Bella rested her head on the seat belt where it cut across her right shoulder and stared out of the window at the scenery passing her by. Washington was so green. It was a nice change of pace from Phoenix where nearly everything reminded her of him . . .

Bella felt a twinge of pain in her chest so she pushed the thought away and tried to focus on the swooshing of the windshield wiper blades. The rhythmic sound and the lack of intrusive visions inside her head soon lulled her off to sleep.

Charlie made sure not to wake her. She looked like she could use the rest. What had Renée been doing with the poor girl? She looked plain worn out when he had met her inside the airport, and her request had both thrilled and surprised him. Of course, she could live with him.

He watched her turn her head and mumble a name in her sleep.

"James…"

W_ho is James?_ Charlie wondered, but he decided to leave the subject alone. _Probably some old boyfriend of hers from Phoenix._ He hadn't had much occasion to keep up with her life since she and her mother had left Forks. When they had gone, a piece of his heart had gone with them, and his life had consisted of mostly going through the motions for the benefit of the people around him. Being the chief kept him busy during the day, but the nights were becoming impossibly hard to deal with. Bella being back at home felt like bringing some of the missing parts of his heart back into place.

Meanwhile, Bella's dreams had her reliving the night she had met him. . .

_Bella was out with some friends at a party in Scottsdale. He had been standing on the other side of the room and was obviously checking her out. He was handsome with a rugged look about him like he spent a lot of time outdoors. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Her friends had urged her to go over and speak to the handsome stranger, and eventually she had caved. She walked over to introduce herself._

"_Hi, I'm Bella." She stood in front of him nervously, but when she looked up at his face, he seemed pleased to see that she had come over to where he stood._

"_I'm James."_

"_Nice to meet you, James." Bella stuck out her hand in a gesture of welcome. He took her small hand in his ow,n wrapping his cold fingers around hers. His grip was strong. _

"_You too, Bella. I just wanted to tell you that you look so scrumptious tonight." He smiled, flashing a shock of brilliantly white teeth. _

_Bella blushed at the compliment, and the rush of blood to her face made him grin again. _

_They had begun talking. He kept flirting with her, and the constant attention was making the blood come to her cheeks even more often than normal. _

"_Bella, do you want to get out of here and go for a walk?"_

"_Umm. I don't know. We just met and . . ."_

"_Aww, it's okay. You can trust me." He smiled warmly at her, and she felt the little bit of reserve inside her melt._

"_Well, I guess so. Just let me tell my friends where I'm going."_

_She walked across the room to where her friends were gathered in a group watching a beer chugging contest. _

"_Guys, listen, I'm gonna go for a walk with James," she pointed at James standing by the door. "I won't be gone long so don't leave without me or anything."_

"_Sure thing Bells, see you in a little while."_

_She walked back over to the door and waved goodbye to her friends. _

_That was the last time any of them saw her for nearly a month._

Bella woke up stifling a scream. She looked drowsily out of the window and noticed that they had arrived in Forks. They were nearly at Charlie's house.

_How long have I been asleep? At least I didn't scream._

She looked over at Charlie, who had finally noticed that she was awake.

"Sleep good, Bella?"

"Sure, Dad," she lied, no need to tell him that sleep was never good for her.

"We're almost home."

_Home. That sounded good. She hadn't had a home in quite some time. _

Charlie turned the car down the familiar street. Nothing ever changed in Forks. At least that was a comfort. He pulled into the driveway that lead to the house that Bella had spent the first year and a half of her life in.

The house was the same shade of white that Bella had always remembered. She didn't know if Charlie had ever painted it in all the time that he had lived there. If he had, he managed to find exactly the same color so that the house remained a constant eggshell in hue. She looked up to find the window to her room, the same room that had belonged to her since birth. The curtains in the window were the ones that her mother had picked out and hung a month before Bella had arrived.

Bella shivered in the cold, damp air as she opened the door of the cruiser, stepping out onto the pavement of the driveway. She followed Charlie to the back of the car and grabbed her suitcase from the open trunk. He led the way to the front door, using the key located above the door frame to open the door and showed his daughter inside. The inside of the house was exactly how she had always remembered.

"Your mom will be worried about you, Bells. Maybe you should give her a call and let her know you got here safely." He gestured towards the kitchen where a familiar phone hung from the wall next to the doorway.

"Sure, Dad." Bella walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. She quickly dialed her mother's cell phone number from memory and waited patiently for her mother to pick up. Renée answered on the second ring.

"Bella, are you alright? I've been waiting for hours for you to call me! How was your trip? What took so long?" Bella was glad that her ability didn't work over the phone. She'd heard her mother worked up into a frenzy before, and it was nothing short of agonizing to keep up with the stream of thoughts and images that came from her agitated brain.

"I'm fine, Mom. It's a four hour drive from Seattle. My cell phone died on the way to the airport, remember? We just pulled in the driveway and got my suitcase in the house. I promise I went straight to the phone to let you know everything was fine." She tried to use a calming voice, knowing that her mother had forgotten most of these simple facts in her anxiety about Bella's well-being. Renée had always been a worrier when it came to her daughter, but since Bella's return it had become nothing short of annoying. She needed to know where Bella was at every moment; it almost seemed to her that she couldn't go the bathroom without Renee mounting a full scale manhunt for her.

"Oh, yeah. How was your trip?" She could hear the frantic tone creeping slowly out of her mother's voice as she realized that Bella couldn't have called her any sooner than right now.

"It was okay." Bella wasn't going to volunteer any more details than were absolutely necessary. This phone call was going to be hard enough without going into the incident on the plane.

"Okay? Are you sure you're alright?" She could hear the disbelief and worry.

"I'm fine Mom, really." She ended the sentence with a short puff of breath into the phone, trying to sound bored and exasperated with her mother's constant concern, just as any normal teenager would be.

"Okay Bella, make sure you email or call me every single day. I want to know how things are going while you visit your dad."

"Actually Mom I wanted to talk to you about that." _Here goes nothing._

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Renée answered her, "About what?" The silence from her mother made Bella nervous. She knew that this was going to be one of the most difficult conversations she had ever had with her mother, so she took a deep breath and decided to just come out and say it, best to get the argument over with as soon as possible.

"Well, umm. I already talked to Charlie, and he said that it would be okay if I made this more than just a visit. I was thinking I'd stay here with him for awhile." Her words came out in a rush, and she was secretly hoping that her mother hadn't heard everything she'd said.

"So you're leaving Phoenix for good? Why? Bella, I love you so much, and so does Phil. You don't have to go anywhere." Renée sounded panicked, as though Bella were being kidnapped all over again.

"Mom, it's not that. It's just that there are so many things that remind me about . . . well, you know. . ." Bella didn't have the words to explain to her mother the thousand things that reminded her of _him_ each and every day. The smell of the desert air itself, blowing its heat across the entire city, brought it all to mind with each fresh gust. The moonlight reflecting off the sand, the feel of the wooden floorboards of their house beneath her bare feet, all of them were constant cues to her memory.

"Bella you can't just up and leave us like that! Why couldn't you have said something about this yesterday?" Renée was nearly yelling, and Bella felt like a chastised child.

"I didn't think you would have let me leave. . ." She broke off her sentence in mid-stream.

"Damn straight I wouldn't have. You'll be miserable in Forks honey. You hate it there." Here was the heart of the matter, not only was it that Renée didn't want to lose Bella so soon after finding her again, she especially didn't want to lose her to Forks. Bella knew well what Renée thought of Forks. In her mind, it was nothing but a pit stop on the way to better things, or a place where things went to die. Renée had always told Bella how much she felt her soul dying each and every day, being killed by everything from the constant, overbearing rain to the stifling nature of the small town itself.

"I don't know, Mom. I guess I just need a change of scenery." She couldn't find any better way to explain her need to escape everything that Phoenix represented.

"A change of scenery? Bella be serious. There are a thousand better places for a change of scenery." Bella understood her argument.

"I don't know. I just couldn't think of any other place I wanted to go. Besides, Dad needs me here. He's lonely." Bella knew that Renée still felt a little guilty about leaving Charlie so suddenly the way she had, and it was this guilt that she was relying on to soften her mother's heart about the entire situation.

"How long do you plan on staying?" She could hear the resignation begin creeping into her mother's voice. She had planned on a much longer argument, but bringing up Charlie must have hit a softer spot in Renée's psyche than she had expected.

"I don't know, Mom. I have got to figure some things out. Just think about it this way. At least now you'll be free to travel with Phil when he goes off next week. You'll like Florida, and I'll be fine here with Charlie." Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Renée knew that if Charlie could be trusted with anything it would be the safety of their daughter. She had seen that first hand when Charlie had come down to Arizona to assist in the search himself. He'd been the most tireless of the group and the last to stop looking, even when the local police had long given up the search.

"Well, you know you are always welcome to come back here. Even if I do go out with Phil, all you have to do is make one phone call, and I will be on the first plane back here. Or, you could always go out on the road with us." Bella knew that Renée really wanted to go spend time with her new husband, but she also wanted to be with her daughter. It was constantly tearing her in two directions. Now, Bella was offering her an opportunity to do what she really wanted without feeling guilty about dumping her off in an unwanted situation.

"You know I really don't like travelling, Mom, but if I need you, I promise to call. Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it Bella. You make it hard for me not to worry about you. I think I will go with Phil next week, but I meant what I said. One phone call is all it would take…" Bella knew Renee meant every thing she ever said.

"Sure thing, Mom. I love you."

"Love you too, Bella."

"Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Sweetie." Bella heard the click of the receiver being hung up on the other end of the line and stood there listening to the silence for just a moment before she hung up the phone and walked slowly back into the living room. It was so quiet here. It was a nice change. Charlie was waiting for her in the living room with an expectant look on his face.

"Well?" He put the remote down on his lap, looking up at her with the question in his eyes.

"Mom said it was okay if I stayed here with you for awhile. She is going on the road with Phil." No need to tell him the rest of the conversation. She could tell from his expression that he had heard most of her end. It would have been difficult not to hear in this tiny house. The entire thing was composed of only five rooms: living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms.

"Okay, I guess it's settled then. We'll go shopping for some things for your room tomorrow, and we'll get you registered for school."

School. Bella hadn't been back to school since her disappearance. She had been recovering at home, and her teachers had sent her work to keep her from falling behind.

"Sure, Dad. Can we go look at cars too? I have a little money saved up, and I'd like to use it to get a car." She mentally calculated how much of her small stash of cash she could spare to pay for a used automobile.

"Bells, you know I can drive you anywhere you want . . ." She stopped him before he could complete the thought.

"Dad, I don't want to ride around in the cruiser all the time. Just keep an eye out for something cheap and reliable that I can drive, please?" There was no way she was going to spend the next however long being chauffeured around in the police cruiser by her dad, especially not if she was going to have to attend school here in Forks. It would be hard enough to fit into a new school during the middle of the school year, much less so if she arrived the first day in the chief's car.

"Okay, honey." He looked around the room awkwardly as though he didn't quite know what to say next.

"I'm gonna go unpack now. See you for dinner?" Bella wanted to spend a little time getting her things in place before settling down for the night.

"Sure."

Bella turned and walked up the stairs to her room which overlooked the front lawn and street. The walls were painted a familiar blue. The room was exactly how she had left it three years ago, the last time she had been for a visit. The bed sheets were even the same ones that had been on the bed then. She wondered if anyone had even been in there since the last time she left.

-x-x-x-

_Strong, cold arms were holding her. They were moving so quickly through the desert that the surrounding scenery was nothing but a blur in the night. _

"_It's okay. You're safe now. He won't hurt you again."_

"_Mmmm," Bella moaned, too weak to even form words. Her eyes searched for the face of her savior, but all she could make out were a pair of topaz colored eyes reflecting the moonlight that surrounded them. Behind them, she could hear the screams of the members of James's coven as the flames licked higher and higher in the building that had once served as their stronghold and now their tomb. _

_The sounds slowly faded from her hearing, and she felt them slow down significantly. In the distance she was able to hear the sounds of a busy highway. She felt the arms lay her down on the cool night sand and heard the key tones of a phone being dialed._

"_Yes, hello. I wanted to report a young woman lying out in the desert off Interstate 10. She appears to be unconscious."_

"_No, I am a doctor. She is breathing, but she looks like she's been hurt. Send an ambulance right away."_

_She then heard the sound of a cell phone snapping shut. By the time she had found enough strength to look up to find out the identity of her rescuer, he was gone. All Bella wanted to do was sleep, so she laid her head on the desert floor and let unconsciousness overcome her weakened body and mind._

Bella woke to the morning light rushing in through the open yellow curtains of her bedroom window. She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and the tall, red numbers indicated that it was already ten in the morning. Bella stretched and sat up on the purple sheets she had picked out with Charlie the summer she was twelve. She looked around the room. The walls were bare except for a picture of herself and Renée at one of her many failed ballet recitals. At this particular recital, she had tripped over thin air and taken down an entire row of five year old ballerinas.

She rubbed her head, remembering her dream from last night. It was the first time since returning home that she had been able to sleep a full night, and while she'd still dreamed of her ordeal, it had been a comfort rather than a nightmare. She tried to remember the features of the face of the one who had delivered her broken body from the home of her torturers, but nothing would come to her except those oddly colored eyes. They were nothing like she had seen before. The eyes were more than human, but something other than vampire.

The eyes of the members of James's coven had been a brilliant red, darkening to black when hunger overcame them. These eyes were liquid gold, the eyes of an angel.

The police had tried to trace the number of the cell phone the angel had used to call 911, but all they had been able to do was trace it to a prepaid phone that had been purchased in a Phoenix convenience store. The phone itself was found a few feet from Bella's body in the desert. No fingerprints or DNA could be lifted from the device. It was almost as if no one had ever touched it.

Bella rose from her bed and found her way to the one bathroom that she was to share with Charlie. He had cleared a shelf for her things, and she found this oddly comforting. It was nice to have someone looking out for her. She had always had to take care of Renée, even after her return. Renée had been so distraught after her daughter had been found in the Arizona desert, and it had taken all the strength Bella had left in reserve to comfort her.

Charlie on the other hand had always been so strong and silent. Her parents couldn't have been more different. It made her wonder what had drawn them together in the beginning. She certainly understood what had driven them apart.

Bella turned on the shower, waiting for the temperature of the water to warm up to a comfortable level and climbed into the falling stream of water, feeling it wash away the last of the tension in her small frame. She simply stood there for a few minutes allowing the water to flow down her head, shoulders, and back. Sometimes, her mother would find her standing in the shower long after the water had gone cold, simply sobbing. This time she reached for her shampoo and began the ritual of preparing herself for the day.

After her shower, Bella found her way downstairs to the kitchen. The bright yellow walls welcomed her, and she began to forage for something to eat. She found a box of cereal in the cupboard and poured a bowl full. She grabbed the milk from the sparsely stocked refrigerator, pouring a river of it over the crunchy cereal before sitting down to begin eating.

On the table, she found a piece of paper with her name written across the front in Charlie's careful handwriting. She opened it and found a note:

_ Bella, _

_I had to leave for work early this morning. There was an accident over in Port Angeles, and they needed some extra help clearing up the case. _

_I have a surprise for you. Billy Black and his son should be over sometime this morning to deliver it. Hope you like it. I'll be home late tonight, so don't wait up._

_Charlie_

_P.S. I am going to stop by the school while I am out today and get you registered for tomorrow. I don't want you falling behind. _

Bella groaned. She was not looking forward to starting school, but she supposed she had no choice. It wouldn't look good for the only daughter of the town's police chief to be a dropout now would it?

Bella sat at the table, finishing her cereal before taking the bowl to the sink and rinsing it out. She placed it carefully into the dish drainer and turned to walk back upstairs to her room. Halfway upstairs, she heard the doorbell and had to turn around to answer it.

When she looked through the peep hole, all she could see was an oddly familiar looking Quileute boy with long black hair and clear copper skin. She saw him reach for the doorbell again.

_Where is she? Hope she didn't go anywhere. Otherwise, what am I gonna do with this thing?_

Finding nothing menacing in his thoughts, she reached for the handle and slowly opened the door. He smiled when he saw her face as if they had been friends all their lives. She returned his smile with a quizzical look.

_She doesn't remember me. . . I guess it's been awhile._

His smile faltered a little, and he held out his hand in a friendly manner saying, "Hi, umm. . . I'm Jacob Black, Billy's son. We used to make mud pies together when we were kids."

"Oh, sorry, yeah . . .um. . . I kind of remember you. You have two sisters right? How are they?"

"They're good. Rachel is studying at Washington State, and Rebecca is married to a surfer from Samoa."

"Married, wow!" From Bella's recollections, Rebecca was barely a year older than herself. Bella could hardly imagine herself married at such a young age, but things were a little different on the reservation. It wasn't uncommon for girls to get married straight out of high school.

"Yeah, well. . . Your dad asked me to deliver something for you."

"What is it?"

"Come out to the driveway and see."

Bella followed him out into the driveway. The only thing she could see was an ancient red pickup truck parked there. That must have been how he got here, but where was her surprise?

"Tada."

"Where is it?" She looked around, peeking in the back of the truck to see if there was something waiting for her in the bed.

"There," he replied, pointing to the truck. "What do you think?"

"Are you serious? Charlie got me a truck?" She stared in disbelief

"Yeah, it was my dad's, but since he's in a wheelchair he won't be needing it anymore. It's all yours now." She could hear something in his voice, sadness.

"You don't want it?"

"No," he said laughing. "Actually, I'm working on a car of my own right now. You don't know anyone who has a spare master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit, do you?"

Bella laughed for the first time in a long time. She hadn't done much laughing back in Phoenix, but being around Jacob made her feel as if she couldn't help but laugh.

Jacob flashed her a smile. _Man, she's pretty when she laughs. _

Bella was taken aback by the thoughts that now circled around Jacob's mind. He was a teenage boy, so his mind went the obvious route.

_Bella and Jacob lying in the back of the red truck, kissing. Jacob's hands meander around her back slowly finding their way to the hem of her shirt. His hands creeping slowly back up along the skin of her back. The contrast of his dark copper skin on her pale white skin beautiful in the moonlight. She moaned against his mouth as he explored the more sensitive regions of her skin under her shirt. _

"_Mmm. . . Jacob."_

_Bella reaches down and pulls her shirt over her head exposing her bare breasts to the moonlight. Jacob reaches out and pulls her back to him covering her mouth with his and allowing his hands to roam freely over her now bare skin. _

"Eghh Hghmm," she coughed to distract him from this train of thought, "so you gonna give me the keys or what Jacob?"

He laughed and tossed her the keys. This wasn't the first time Bella had been subjected to dirty visions of herself in someone else's mind, but it was the first time she really didn't mind. Jacob was sweet and what he was thinking was actually kind of romantic.

"You need a ride home?"

"No, my friend Paul is coming to pick me up in a little while. Besides, I don't think you want to drive all the way to La Push and back this afternoon. So, you starting school soon?"

"Uh, yeah tomorrow. You go to high school on the reservation right?"

"Yep." He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking at something on the ground.

"Too bad. I was hoping to know somebody there."

His eyes brightened at her words. _Hey, maybe she does like me a little. Sweet! _

She smiled to herself.

"Well, I guess I gotta go. I told Sam I'd meet him in town, it was good to see you again, Bella. See you around?"

"Sure Jacob. You should come over with your dad the next time he comes to visit Charlie." It would be nice to have someone to talk to when Charlie and his friend got involved in whatever game they were watching.

"I'd love to, Bella. See you later." With that, Jacob turned and began walking towards town, leaving Bella alone with the keys to her new truck and feeling like she might have finally found a friend.

-x-x-x-

A/N: Hope you like what you've read so far. The Cullens are coming soon. Just to answer a few questions I've had from people. No, Bella isn't Edward's singer. No, it wasn't Edward who saved her. No, Bella and Jacob aren't going to hook up. No, Bella's not a vampire.

If you want to follow me on Twitter you can. I'm CereuleanBlue everywhere (Skype, Google, Twitter, you name it), and I have a blog at cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com, if you'd like to keep up with my randomness there. Thanks for reading.


	3. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Chapter 3: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

-x-x-x-

"_But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,_

_thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day_

_that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."_

_Genesis 2:17_

-x-x-x-

Bella pulled her truck into the nearly deserted parking lot of Forks High School. She had seen this odd collection of buildings on a few occasions during her summer vacations with Charlie. Never in her wildest imaginings did she think she would have reason to walk through those double doors into the office building. Of course, her life had gone so far beyond anything her mind could ever have drummed up that nothing seemed impossible anymore. Pushing the door open and jumping down from the cab of the truck, Bella tried to internally prepare herself for the day ahead.

_After everything you've been through high school should be a piece of cake Bella Swan. What are a bunch of teenagers compared to __**him**__?_

She pulled the hem of her rain jacket down over the top of her jeans, slung her new backpack over her shoulder and strode into the building labeled FRONT OFFICE with as much confidence as she could muster. The office was small and brightly lit compared to the nearly perpetual dusk caused by the overcast sky of the world outside. At the desk behind the counter that bisected the room sat a large woman with brilliant red hair wearing a purple t-shirt.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Swan."

"Oh, of course dear. Your father came by and got you registered yesterday. Here's your schedule and a map of the school." _Let's see if you stay here long enough to need it. _

Bella was taken aback by the venom in the outwardly friendly woman's thoughts. A picture of Renée as a teenager flashed through the woman's mind. Bella was too distracted to listen to much else of what the woman said about her schedule. She simply nodded at what seemed to be the appropriate moments. She could see her face in the woman's mind and realized how distracted she looked. The secretary assumed it must be that she was nervous about her first day, so she smiled.

"Hope you like it here in Forks."

"I'm sure I will."

Bella hurried to get out of the office and away from another one of the many awkward situations that she always seemed to find herself in. The campus was quickly filling up with students, and their thoughts where whizzing past Bella like insects on a hot summer day in Phoenix. Her mind was buzzing so that she barely noticed that all the other students were parking their cars behind the school rather than in the front. She slowly found her way back to her truck and joined the line of traffic waiting to enter the student parking lot.

She was happy to see that her rusty old truck seemed to fit right in with the rest of the cars that were entering the gravel lot. The last thing she wanted was to stand out. Hopefully she would just be able to blend in with the crowd until she could get the swing of things here in Forks.

No such luck.

As soon as Bella stepped out of the truck in the student lot, the attention of every student in viewing range snapped to her. She suddenly realized that a strange face here in Forks was probably a rare occurrence.

_Who is that? I didn't know we were getting a new student. Maybe . . ._

_Wow, would you look at her? Get a load of that a. . . _

_She's not that good looking. I don't know what Mike is staring at. I mean . . . _

_. . . hope she's in my class. . ._

_Shit, I forgot to do my Trig homework last night. Wonder if the new girl is any good at math?_

It had been awhile since Bella had been around this many people at one time all focused on her. It made their thoughts that much louder in her head, as though they were shouting them at her rather than whispering to themselves. She had to stop walking for a second to gather her concentration before she was able to figure out which direction she should be moving in. According to the schedule in her hand, she was looking for English in Building 3. It was actually very easy to spot once she was able to think, with a large number three painted in white on the side of the red brick of the building.

Bella pulled the hood up over her head as she headed through the morning mist towards one of the many small structures that dotted the campus of Forks High School. She ducked into the door of the classroom as quickly as possible to get away from the battery of the noise from the nearly three hundred people fascinated with her every move.

Once inside the classroom, she finally had a chance to catch her breath and take in her surroundings. She was one of the first students in the classroom, so for the moment it was quiet. The only other people in the room were the teacher, Mr. Mason according to her schedule, and an alabaster skinned blonde girl sitting on top of a desk in the front row. They looked up surprised to see her enter the room.

Bella walked up to Mr. Mason, handing him the sheet that she had been given to collect teacher signatures throughout the day. He looked shocked when he saw her name.

_Swan? I didn't know Chief Swan's daughter was coming back to Forks. What in the hell happened to her? _

Bella blushed and tried to hide her face under the hood of her jacket.

"Isabella, you can sit over there." He pointed to a seat in the back of the room and turned to walk to the front of the class.

"It's Bella," she said to his back.

The rest of the students were filing in from the rainy courtyard. She recognized several of them from the parking lot. She made her way to the seat that Mr. Mason had pointed out and arranged her book bag on the back of the chair. She quickly sat down, pulling out a notebook and pencil and doodling on the margins of the first empty piece of paper she could find.

She could feel the eyes of the other students burning into her as they entered the room. Just as in the parking lot, the thoughts of all the others centered around her. Mr. Mason called the class to order, and the students who were still milling around the room hurried to find their seats. As he was taking attendance, he walked over, handing Bella a stack of papers.

She began to shuffle through them and found a copy of the reading list for the class. She had already read all the books on the list and had begun planning to have Renée send her all her old essays. Her plans were interrupted by the thoughts of the boy sitting in front of her. His pale blonde hair was gelled into careful spikes. When Mr. Mason had taken attendance, she had thought she heard him answer to Mike.

_Who is she? I heard her say her name was Bella. Man, she's cute. I would love to get my hands on that ass of hers. Jeez. I hope she doesn't have a boyfriend. I'm gonna go talk to her after class. I bet she needs help getting to the next class. _

Bella saw a scene start to play out in his imagination.

_Mike and Bella walking across the courtyard. They duck behind a one of the buildings near the back and wander into the forest together. He reaches for her hand and pulls her to him. He pushes her against a tree and presses his lips to hers. She snakes her arms around his neck and pulls him in tighter. His hands wander down her body and into the waistline of her pants. _

_Bella's breath is coming in little gasps as Mike's fingers make their way into her underwear. Her lips stray down his chin to his neck as her hands go for the buttons on his jeans . . ._

Mike's fantasies were interrupted by the nasal droning sound of the bell signaling the end of the class. A blushing Bella stood up quickly and made her way out of the room before Mike could catch up to her. She pulled the map and her schedule out of her bag, studying them to figure out where to go next.

"Need any help?" A gangly, black haired boy walked up behind her. She recognized him as the student who had been sitting next to her in English.

"Umm, yeah. I have Government in Building 6." She traced her finger along the second line on the piece of paper she'd pulled from her pocket.

"So, what's your name?" He pushed his lanky hair back from his forehead with one hand.

_Oh yeah, real cool Eric. You were looking over her shoulder at her schedule back in English. _

"Isabella Swan, but everybody calls me Bella," she smiled trying to be friendly but unsure of the right way to react to his attentions.

"Hi,Bella. I'm Eric." He grinned, exposing a latticework of metal across his teeth. "Where are you from?"

_There you go. Get her talking about her old home. I bet she's homesick. I know I would be._

"Phoenix," she answered him simply, unwilling to volunteer any more information about her past than absolutely necessary.

"Wow, that's a long way from Forks. What are you doing here?" He hitched his backpack up on his shoulder in an obvious attempt to look cooler than he was.

"Well, I moved here to live with my dad . . ."

"Let me guess, Chief Swan?" he interrupted her before she could complete her sentence.

_I knew Chief Swan had a daughter, but wow…_

"Yeah, how did you know?" She listened a little more carefully trying to find a hidden agenda in the young man's kind words but heard nothing that ran contrary to the simple words coming out of his mouth. After a moment, she realized it was because he had nothing to hide. Eric obviously wore his thoughts on his lips.

"It's a small town." He looked down at his feet, nervously shifting them from side to side. She could feel his jitteriness in even speaking to her, much less offering to walk her to her next class.

_It's a small town? What kind of an idiot answer is that? Can't you come up with something cooler than that Yorkie?_

He began to internally berate himself for his lack of sophistication and coolness.

"Yeah, I guess it is," she answered him quickly, trying to distract him from his self-flagellation.

"Here's your class. Good luck." He came to a stop in front of one of the small brick buildings that littered the campus. It was labeled with a large number six on a white placard by the double doors leading into the traditional, institutionally tiled hallway.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged, not knowing what to expect from the coming hour that awaited her on the other side of the doors.

"See you around Bella." _I hope. _

Eric walked away slowly, glancing back several times before sighing softly and committing to his path towards another of the red structures across the courtyard.

Bella smiled and made her way into the hallway. The rest of the day was basically the same. The same faces kept appearing in each of her classes. The same thoughts coming from each of them, all of them curious about the new face in the classroom. A few of them were brave enough to introduce themselves during the course of the day, especially during the changing of classes, and a couple of her teacher had forced her to introduce herself to the class, explaining that she'd come from Phoenix to live with her father for awhile while her mother was travelling. One of the students who sat with Bella in both Trig and Spanish, Jessica, showed her how to get to the cafeteria.

Bella followed Jessica into the cafeteria completely unsure of what to expect. The large rectangular room was filled with round tables around which sat the first of the students to be released from class for the day. The thoughts that filled her head were mostly happy ones. Everyone was relaxed and glad to be out of class for at least a little while. The loudest voice belonged to Jessica.

_Oh, she is totally going to sit with me. I bet Mike will come and talk to us. Wow, everyone is looking. I look really good today . . . _

Jessica's thoughts never seemed to stop, and they nearly all focused around herself and Mike Newton, the boy from Bella's English class. The only time her mind was quiet was when she was talking on and on about teachers and students. Bella merely smiled and nodded hoping that Jessica wouldn't notice her lack of attention.

The door opened behind Bella as a large group of students entered, loudly discussing their plans for the weekend, and the breeze whipped past her blowing her hair around her face. Suddenly she caught a smell that she couldn't believe she had missed upon entering the room. It was strongly sweet and overpowering, reminding her of something from one of her nightmares. She turned to find the source of the smell and froze in place like a deer caught in headlights.

Their pale skin sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the cafeteria. She knew from the thoughts of the children swarming around her that none of them saw the creatures before her in the same way she was seeing them now. She had seen a few of them in the daydreams of those around her, and in everyone else's minds they were fairly ordinary human beings. However, she knew what they truly were.

_Vampires._

Subconsciously, she began counting her odds.

_One . . . Two . . . Three. . . Four . . . Five . . . _

Bella didn't like those odds. She had never seen so many of them in one place before. Her heart began to race, and her breath quickened in preparation to flee. She forced herself to stand in place. It took all the strength she had to avoid running from the room screaming.

_Don't run. They'll just follow you, and then you're done for. Better stay with the others. They won't do anything in front of everyone. It would blow their cover._

She began to examine each of them one by one. The first male was tall and muscular with dark colored hair. Immediately next to him was a blonde female who was so beautiful to look at her almost hurt Bella's eyes. A small raven haired female sat next to her staring off into space, her hair creating a spiky halo around her glittering face, and next to her was a tall lanky blonde male whose skin was covered in a spider's web of bite marks. How many bites could one vampire survive? He had hundreds, no thousands, of scars, and Bella knew instinctively that each vampire who had given him a scar had paid for it with their life.

The last male appeared to be the youngest of them all. His copper hair was arranged perfectly atop his pale face. They all sat not eating or speaking, just staring off into space, and in the cafeteria crowded with students, theirs was the only table which didn't impose itself upon Bella's thoughts. No matter how hard she tried she could hear nothing. She exerted all the strength of mind she could find and still nothing.

They obviously had the rest of the student body here convinced that they were nothing more than ordinary high school students. Their existence was a non-issue to everyone around her. They attracted no more attention than their extraordinary beauty warranted, and she was shocked to find that no one suspected anything unusual about a single one of them.

"Bella are you alright?" Jessica interrupted her racing thoughts.

"Umm, yeah, sorry, just thinking about something."

"Aren't you gonna eat?" She looked over at Bella's empty tray curiously. Bella placed it quickly back on the stack of trays on her right.

"No, I'm not hungry. . ." Bella's eyes still wouldn't move from the face they had focused on.

"Well come on let's sit down. My friends are waiting. . ." _What's wrong with her? Oh, God, she's staring at the Cullen's. Well, good luck, honey. They think they're too good for the rest of us mere mortals._

She followed Jessica to the lunch table filled with students almost as if she were on autopilot. She forced herself to tear her eyes away from them and pay attention to where she was walking. She sat down next to Jessica and pretended to listen as Jessica introduced the others sitting around the table, while all that she could really think about was how to get away from here without them noticing. Their scent continued to assault her nostrils.

_Calm down, Bella. They're going to notice you. Just breathe. . . in . . . out . . . in . . . out . . . _

Bella felt her heart rate begin to slow almost as if she willed it to do so. She refused to look in their direction again, even though she was monitoring them through the others' thoughts. Surprisingly, the student's here paid them very little attention. It was almost as if they were a part of the background scenery rather than five mythological creatures sitting in the middle of a high school cafeteria in Forks, Washington.

"Who are those kids sitting near the front of the cafeteria?" she whispered to Jessica. Bella had decided that it was best to learn as much as she could about these strange vampires. Living amongst humans for any length of time must have been a difficulty for them, but they appeared to be doing so effortlessly.

"Oh, them. Those are the Cullens." Jessica answered her without batting an eye. She knew immediately who Bella had been referring to, and Jessica had automatically assumed that Bella was interested in them because of the impeccable, handsome faces of the boys.

"They're a family? They don't look anything alike." So they were posing as a family. It would easily explain all their similar complexions and eyes, but they were all so wildly different from each other. She found it hard to believe that anyone here was convinced that they were actually related.

"Well they're all adopted or something. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen kind of took them all in."

"They're not from Forks, are they?" _Obviously. _Bella was trying to pry some sort of information about the Cullens' past from Jessica. She was rather uninformative with the trivial bits of information she was providing.

"No. They all moved down from Alaska a couple of years ago. Why?" Jessica had shoved a forkful of lettuce in her mouth, and her words were muffled as she spoke through the mouthful of food.

"Oh, well. They don't seem to fit in around here." Jessica was getting curious about Bella's interest in the Cullens, and Bella decided to lay off the questions for awhile until Jessica was a little less suspicious about Bella's motives.

"Well, I guess they just kind of keep to themselves. Apparently, they think they're too good for the rest of us." Jessica's thoughts turned inward, and the images of a memory flickered through her mind.

"_Hi, Edward." Jessica giggled, and the youngest of the males turned to look at her._

"_Umm. . . hi Jessica. Need something?" He wrapped his arms around the book he carried, pulling it close to his chest. _

"_No, well, I was just wondering if . . . " Jessica was stammering. _

"_Listen, I need to get going," he interrupted. _

"_Would you go to the dance with me?" Her words came out in a rush._

"_No, sorry, I'm going to be in Seattle that weekend. It's a family thing. I can't get out of it."He was obviously trying to sound more disappointed than he felt. _

"_Okay, umm . . . well . . . later then."_

"_Yeah, ok. Goodbye."_

Bella saw the scene play out in Jessica's mind as clearly as if she had been there herself. The copper haired boy walked away to join his "family" at a shiny silver Volvo waiting in the school's student parking lot. As he walked away, she saw his nearly perfect face break into a grin followed by laughter when he joined his family. She could feel the hurt in Jessica's memories.

_He was laughing at her._

Bella shook her head to bring herself back to reality. These kids didn't know just how close to danger they were on a daily basis.

_How can there be this many vampires in such a small town? Hasn't anybody noticed anything?_

Lunch seemed to drag on for an eternity, with Jessica and her friends prattling on in the background of her thoughts, but all of Bella's focus was on the table in the room that was farthest from where she now sat. She borrowed Jessica's vision for a moment and saw the small pixie-like female stand up, striding gracefully away from the table. A few moments later, the other four slowly rose and left the cafeteria.

Bella felt herself relax as the distance between them increased. With each step they took further away, her heart rate and breathing noticeably slowed until they were out of sight, and her vital signs were very nearly back to normal. Suddenly, it was as if someone had turned the volume back up on the rest of the world. Sounds came rushing back to her, and she could hear the students around her talking instead of just the blood rushing through her ears.

"Hey, Bella. If we don't leave now we're gonna be late for class. Don't you have Biology with me next?" The girl across from Bella smiled and stood up. She was amazingly tall with long light brown hair and eyes to match.

_What's her name? Angela, that's it . . ._

"Sure, Angela. Let's get going."

_Bella must be nervous. I know I would be if it were my first day here. _

Angela's thoughts were kind, and Bella was glad to escape from the noise and confusion of the cafeteria. They walked together silently across the courtyard towards another of the small brick buildings. They entered the room, and Angela walked to her seat on the left of the classroom. Bella noticed that only one seat was left empty. She looked at the other occupant of the black topped lab table and nearly came out of her skin when she saw a pair of cold black eyes staring back at her.

* * *

A/N: Told you the Cullens were coming soon. Don't think badly of Edward for the way he turned Jessica down. Next chapter is from his POV.

You can follow me on Twitter as CereuleanBlue or visit my blog at cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Thanks for reading.


	4. The Voice Inside My Head

Chapter 4: The Voice Inside My Head

-x-x-x-  
"_Hello there, the angel from my nightmare_

_The shadow in the background of the morgue_

_The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley. . ."_

_I Miss You – Blink 182 _

_-x-x-x_

Edward Masen Cullen sat idly in the cafeteria of Forks High School, an untouched tray of food perched on the table in front of him. The day stretched out ahead of him like every other day in this small town had. Nothing changed here that really mattered. There was a minor disturbance in the student body regarding a new student, but, from what he had seen in the minds of those who had met her, she was nothing if not ordinary.

The sheer novelty of a new face had sent most of the other students' thoughts running amok. Most of the male students already fancied themselves in love with her. Across the cafeteria, Mike Newton's thoughts were especially graphic as he thought of ways to insinuate himself into her day. He tuned Mike's thoughts out easily, more from distaste than a concern for Mike's privacy.

Edward stared at the cracks in the ceiling, tracing the spider web pattern they wound through the plaster to help divert his mind from the voices he kept trying to ignore. His brothers and sisters sat next to him unspeaking. He tried to give them as much privacy as he possibly could, but it was easy to hear what they were thinking.

Rosalie, as usual, was thinking about herself. Her appearance in the clothes she had so carefully selected today was forefront in her shallow mind. She had caught sight of her reflection in the plate glass windows in the cafeteria and was consumed by admiring her own beauty. Her face twitched into a barely perceptible smile when she thought of what a lovely figure she cut opposed to the ordinary human girls she was surrounded with on a daily basis.

Emmett's thoughts were as simple as Rosalie's were shallow. He was attempting to come up with a way to catch Jasper unawares in revenge for the wrestling match he had lost the afternoon before. It was going to be hard for him to wait until after school to attack. Emmett's character was such that whatever crossed his mind was usually put into speech or action nearly immediately.

Jasper on the other hand was struggling to maintain his composure in this room full of beating hearts. The sheer amount of blood that surrounded him was growing harder to ignore by the second. Edward felt his thoughts begin to betray him as a pretty blonde freshman walked too close and the heaters blew the scent of her blood towards his nostrils like a wave. Edward felt the burn of a doubled thirst, both his own and Jasper's. Because of the number of years he had been denying himself the blood of humans, he was able to withstand the flame, but it took all of Jasper's strength not to rise from his seat and take her now.

_Edward?_

He heard Alice think his name as clearly as if she had spoken it aloud.

_Is he ok?_

Edward frowned so slightly that no one who wasn't a vampire could even make out that his mouth had moved. Alice reached out, gently touching Jasper's arm, and he turned quickly to look at her.

"It's ok, Jazz. You weren't going to do anything," she spoke so quietly that no one but Jasper and Edward could hear her.

Jasper shrugged and looked away. Edward could feel the struggle he was going through on a minute-by-minute basis.

_Jasper shouldn't go so long without hunting. I'll take him tonight._

Alice's eyes clouded following her decision. Edward saw an image of Alice and Jasper in the deep green woods quietly stalking a small herd of elk. They pounced, and a large bull fell beneath them. He saw Jasper lean down to begin feeding, and Alice's vision blurred. The scene changed to that of Edward sitting in Biology next to the new girl. Her vision shifted again, and he saw an image of the same girl driving an old red pickup truck at its top speed through the rainy night.

"What was that Alice?"

_I don't know. It wasn't clear. Who was that?_

Before he could answer her, his attention was diverted to a group of students near the entrance of the cafeteria.

_Oh, God, she's staring at the Cullens. Well, good luck, honey. They think they're too good for the rest of us mere mortals._

The thought of his last name caught his attention as surely as someone yelling it out. He scanned the group and quickly found the source of the thought, Jessica Stanley. Her voice was exceedingly familiar to him. He had been subjected to many of her more indecent fantasies concerning him for quite some time. She was standing in the center of the group talking to a female student who must have been Isabella Swan.

_No, Bella. She likes being called Bella._

He couldn't see Bella's face for himself because she stood with her back turned to him and his family. Her long mahogany hair curled softly between her shoulders. He could hear her heart thrumming nervously in her chest like a bird. He tried to discern what she thought of the Cullens, but was met with only silence, almost as if there were no one standing across from Jessica.

Jessica turned and walked toward the table that contained her friends, and Bella reluctantly followed. She sat down in a chair, still facing away from the Cullens. Edward was frustrated. He wanted to see this strangely silent girl's face for himself.

He heard her ask, "Who are those kids sitting near the front of the cafeteria?"

"Oh, them. Those are the Cullens." Jessica's answer was quick and nonchalant.

"They're a family? They don't look anything alike." He could hear the curiosity in her voice. Hopefully, it was only the product of being a new student, but Edward listened even more carefully to the remainder of their conversation.

"Well they're all adopted or something. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen kind of took them all in." Jessica provided the standard answer they gave at each school they'd attended in the past twenty years.

"They're not from Forks, are they?" Of course, Bella Swan would know that. Her father had been the police chief here since she was a small girl. He imagined she'd been to Forks several summers at least. This was the Cullens second year here in Forks. She wouldn't have recognized their family name from her childhood visits.

"No. They all moved down from Alaska a couple of years ago." Again, the ordinary explanation for their presence.

"Oh, well. They don't seem to fit in around here." Edward tried hard not to snort or do anything to betray the fact that he was listening in. That was most definitely an understatement.

"Well, I guess they just kind of keep to themselves. Apparently, they think they're too good for the rest of us."

Edward laughed to himself remembering the brief period of time when Jessica had imagined herself in love with him. He was listening to hear Bella's reaction to this conversation, but instead all he got was a replay of Jessica's memory of the only time she had ever gotten up enough courage to speak to him.

He remembered walking away from the conversation, his shoulders shaking with laughter. If only Jessica had known what it would really be like if his mouth got anywhere near her.

He continued to stare across the cafeteria hoping that she would turn so he could catch a glimpse of her face. If he could see her face then maybe he would know what she was thinking. The silence from her mind was infuriating. The only thing he could hear was the venom spewing from Jessica's mind.

_She's not even that pretty. Look, even Edward Cullen is staring! _

Edward felt the unfamiliar urge to protect Bella from Jessica. She looked so small and weak, like a bird perched in the plastic chair. The little bit of skin he could see peeking out from the collar of her shirt was pale. He could still hear her heart thrumming and her quickened breathing.

_What is making her so nervous? Is she shy? That sounds like more than first day jitters. She sounds terrified._

"So is the new one afraid of us yet?" Emmett's question pulled Edward's attention back from its sharp focus on Bella Swan. It was almost as if the rest of the world had been put on hold for a few moments. Now suddenly, it snapped back to life, and the roar of sound from the rest of the cafeteria returned to his ears.

Edward simply shrugged. He had no other answer to give.

"I should get going. I'm going to have a pop quiz in Math today." Alice stood and gracefully made her way to the trash can, dumping the untouched food. She turned and nearly danced out the double doors to the courtyard beyond.

The rest of the Cullens sat quietly for a few more moments before Rosalie said, "Shall we?" The others rose and followed her lead out to the world beyond. They walked together until they reached the middle of the courtyard where they parted company. Edward made his way to his Biology class, entering the room unnoticed and finding his seat. He knew from Alice's vision in the cafeteria that the seat next to him would be taken today, so he carefully laid his bag under the table rather than in the chair next to him which was its normal home.

Bella entered the classroom a few paces behind Angela, the quiet mousy girl who sat one row behind Edward. She pulled the hood of her jacket off her head and shook the rain out of her hair. He saw her face for the first time with his vampire eyes. Human eyes had not done her justice. The first thing he noticed were her eyes. The color of them was like no other human's he had seen. Golden, nearly the same as his brothers' and sister's eyes.

_How strange._

The door opened as another group of students entered the classroom. A breeze caught her scent and blew it toward Edward's waiting nostrils. His throat stung from the smell of the blood pulsing through her veins, but something in the scent wasn't right. It was different than that of any other human he had encountered before, almost as if it had been diluted with something strange. The smell drove him mad with curiosity.

_First the silence, and now this? What is this Bella Swan?_

She glanced around the room and caught his stare. He heard her heart begin to race when her eyes made contact with his. What was causing her to react this way? Did she know something?

He tried again to probe her mind with his, and in return received only silence. The girl looked around the room as though desperate to find another empty chair, but the only place to sit was next to him.

_Should I try to talk to her? What is going on? I've never been blocked from hearing someone like this before._

Bella walked up to the teacher, Mr. Banner, and handed him a slip of paper. He spoke to her quietly, and pointed to the chair next to Edward Cullen.

"There isn't anywhere else I can sit?" Her voice was hurried and panicked.

"Sorry, it's the only one. Is something wrong?" The teacher looked at her a little strangely, unused to such distress at a seating assignment.

"Umm, no. I just don't feel comfortable sitting next to a boy," she stammered by way of an excuse. If sitting next to a boy made her feel that uncomfortable, she must have come from a convent school before this.

"Just try it for today, and let me know if you still want to switch at the end of class," Mr. Banner replied soothingly.

_She doesn't want to sit with me. _ Edward was suddenly hurt. He had never cared what any of his classmates thought of him before now. They normally shunned him. Why should this girl matter more than any of the rest of them?

Bella shrugged her shoulders and slowly turned to walk towards the chair. She was careful not to look at Edward as she carefully arranged her things at the table they now shared. He heard the squeak of the chair on the tiled floor as she slid it as far away as possible from him before sinking down into it. She grabbed a pen and notebook and focused on the front of the classroom, her eyes never leaving Mr. Banner as the lecture began.

She waved her hair and wafted that strange scent towards Edward's nostrils again. The smell made him thirst but also made him afraid. He'd thought there was nothing he hadn't smelled before, until now. This was alien to him, and he was anxious to know the cause. He leaned in closer to her, nearly close enough to touch her, and tried again to hear Bella's thoughts. She was closer to him now than any still-living human had ever been, and still, there was silence. He wanted to reach out and touch her to see if it made any difference.

Bella sensed Edward's cold breath on her neck, and instinctively, she leaned her body away from his. He suddenly noticed his proximity to her and pulled back to give her the space she needed to feel comfortable. Slowly she settled back into her place in the chair. He felt ashamed to have scared her so unnecessarily.

"Sorry," he whispered.

She merely nodded, still not speaking. He sat and watched her write for quite awhile. It wasn't like he needed to pay attention to the class anyway. He had two graduate degrees in Biology, and the material covered in this class usually bored him so much that he wished he could sleep. She was so careful not to look at him. He could hear her heart beating so fast that it sounded like it might explode.

_Is she just that shy?_

Edward tried hard to come up with some explanation for the strange combination of traits he had found in Bella Swan, but no matter how hard he tried there was nothing that could explain all of it. The bell rang to signal the end of class, and as Bella reached down to pick up her bag her sleeve was caught on the edge of the chair. It pulled up, exposing the network of scars on her arm. Edward saw them and stifled a gasp.

_Look at her skin! It's like ours. But she can't be a vampire, I can hear her heart. What's going on? _

He looked up to her face, and for the first time, their eyes locked. He could see the fear in her face as she reached down to quickly pull the cotton material to cover her arm, and before he could say a word, she had disappeared. He heard the door slam, followed by the staccato beat of her footsteps as she ran towards the parking lot.

Edward stood and left the room as quickly as he possibly could without raising suspicion. He got out the door just in time to see Bella jumping into the same red truck from Alice's vision. Before he could get any farther, she cranked up the truck and pulled out of the parking lot.

Edward felt Alice walk up behind him. She whispered, "She's going to run. . . "

-x-x-x-

A/N: Okay, leave me a review and let me know how you liked it. Next chapter is back to Bells!

Come find me on Twitter as CereuleanBlue or leave me some love on my blog cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Thanks for reading!


	5. The Flight in the Wilderness

Chapter 5: The Flight In the Wilderness

A/N: Back to Bella's POV. We join her in the middle of a drive in the country. Warning: there is some graphic/violent stuff in the form of a flashback here.

-x-x-x-

"_For whatsoever from one place doth fall,_

_Is with the tide unto an other brought,_

_Nothing is lost, that may be found, if sought."_

_The Faerie Queene, Book 5__, Edmund Spenser_

-x-x-x-

Bella floored the ancient truck, urging it more quickly down the darkening road. She had no idea where she was going to go, but it had to be somewhere far away from here. She kept glancing in the rearview mirror expecting to see a pair of black eyes staring back at her with each look.

Charlie should be home by now and would be missing her. She wondered if he tried to call the cell phone she'd left behind in her haste to be gone. How long would he wait before he began to search for her? How long before_ they_ realized she was gone and came after her?

After leaving Forks High School in such a hurry, she immediately went home and started packing her things. It wasn't too difficult since she'd hardly unpacked since arriving from Phoenix. She debated with herself about leaving a note for Charlie, but he would be safer if he didn't know where she was going or that she was even gone.

When she got into the truck, she didn't even know what road she was on. She took random turns and several times ended up on a dead end road, having to turn around and backtrack. Now, she found herself on a nearly deserted highway with the sun setting behind her, so she must have been heading east. The rain had just begun to fall again, and Bella turned on the windshield wipers. She had never felt so alone in her life.

The swishing of the wipers against the glass began to lull her into a kind of trance. The road was straight and empty of other cars, so Bella's attention was easily diverted to an inward course. She began to retrace in her mind all the events that had led her up to this point. She wondered if there had been anything she could have done to avoid this fate, but it seemed to her that her number was up from the moment James had laid eyes on her.

_Those eyes, they had been black on the night he took her, just as black as Edward's when he saw her for the first time in that classroom._

Was there anywhere on Earth she could go to escape them, or now that she knew, would she find that they had been everywhere all along? Her heart beat even more quickly as she sensed the answer to that question.

_They are everywhere. There's nowhere I can run, but at least I can keep my family safe. I'll run as long as I can and as far away from Forks and Phoenix as I can get. _

She drove on through the night, and suddenly, the tears began to flow from her golden eyes. Her mind wandered as she sobbed, remembering all she had been through.

_James at the party . . . walking in the moonlight . . . kissing her hand . . . _

"_It burns!"_

_Bella blacked out from the pain. _

_She woke up in a strange room chained to the wall . . . her head was spinning. Across the room was a familiar face. James. _

"_What's going on?" she asked groggily._

"_Good morning, my pet. Welcome to my home. You slept very heavily last night, are you rested?"_

_Bella's groggy mind slowly began to come into focus. For the first time, she could take in her surroundings. The room around her was dimly lit and devoid of furnishings. Only one window, placed high in the wall above her, let in the gloomy light from outside. She looked down at her wrist and saw the healed scar of a bite there. _

"_How long have I been asleep? Why am I chained here? Please. . ."_

_He placed a startlingly cold finger on her lips. _

"_Patience pet. I will explain all, but you must be patient."_

_James's finger left her lips and trailed along the skin of her cheek. She could feel the goose bumps that raised on the flesh of her arms. His skin was like ice against her feverish face. The light in the room changed as if a cloud blocking the sunlight had passed. She looked into his eyes, and they blazed red in the light that suddenly streamed in from the small window high above her head. His face was lit up as though frosted with crystals of ice. The reflected light from it played across her skin and fascinated her sluggish mind momentarily_

"_I must be dreaming. . ."_

"_No sweet. This is no dream. Although, you may wish it to be so before all is said and done."_

"_What are you?" She rubbed her eyes, trying to bring the world back into the proper focus. _

"_Don't you know yet? You're not as bright as I gave you credit for. Can't you guess? Let me give you a clue. Your blood was sweet last night."_

_Bella gasped, recognition lighting her eyes._

"_Say it! Say the word." He grabbed her arm, shaking her forcefully._

"_Vampire. You're a vampire." Bella whispered._

"_Well done, and you have become my newest pet. Your predecessor ceased to please me nearly a week ago, and so I have decided to replace her. I think you will make an excellent new toy, but first we must dispense with the older model."_

_He walked to the door across the room, throwing it open. In the hall beyond, she could hear sounds of scuffling, like an animal trying to escape a trap. _

"_Now, now. Nothing to fear. Your time here is almost over. I just wanted to let you meet your replacement."_

_He returned, pulling along behind him a girl who could have been Bella's sister. Her hair and eyes matched Bella's to perfection. She was dressed in rags and her arms and neck were covered in scars that looked like bites. There were dark circles beneath the beautiful brown eyes. She looked at Bella, and the fear that dawned across her face caused Bella to pull away from both of them._

"_Now, Bella, watch carefully. Take this as a warning about what will happen if you should ever try to escape me like this one did. I caught her out there," he pointed toward the window, "a week ago trying to find her way through the wilderness. She was lost. I should have let her die out there, but I needed to find you first. I haven't fed from her in a week, so her blood should be completely replenished by now."_

_He lifted her wrist to his mouth and sliced it open across his brilliant white teeth. The blood began to pour down her outstretched arm, and she screamed. James tongue lapped at the stream of red that dripped thickly down the girl's pale white skin. _

"_Mmmm. Declicious. Want a taste Bella?"_

_James pulled the now sobbing girl towards the corner where Bella was cowering. The girl tried to pull away, and Bella could hear the bones snapping in her arm as James twisted it towards Bella's face. _

"_Try it," he urged her gently at first._

"_No." Bella turned her face towards the wall, wishing that this was all just a bad dream._

_He grabbed Bella's chin, twisting her head around to face them and shoved the girl's wrist against her lips, rubbing them in the streaming blood. _

"_Good, isn't it?"_

"_Please stop. . . please," Bella cried, turning her face back to the wall._

_James laughed. "What should I do with her Bella?"_

_The girl continued crying silently. She was too terrified to make a sound._

"_Let her go. Please, let her go." Bella begged as though for both their lives._

"_No, I don't think I will. I'm thirsty. Are you?" He laughed._

_Bella shook her head violently, and James guided the girl back towards himself._

"_Last chance, Bella. Are you sure? Ok, well it's more for me."_

_He bent his face to the girl's neck, sinking his razor sharp teeth into the pale white skin where her pulse fluttered like a hummingbird's wing. The girl cried out for a moment, but the light quickly went out of her eyes as her body became limp. James continued drinking until the only things holding her up were his arms wrapped around her waist. Slowly, he lowered her to the floor and stepped over her lifeless body towards Bella._

"_Look at you my sweet. Your face is a mess. You mustn't be such a sloppy eater from now on."_

_He brought his lips to hers, licking the blood from them as she tried to pull away._

"_Now, Bella. You mustn't be so scared. As long as you are a good little girl, I promise never to hurt you . . . badly. Now give us a kiss."_

_He brought his lips back to hers and roughly pressed the back of her head, forcing her to return his kiss. Bella felt his tongue part her lips, and she bit down with all the strength she had, tasting something sickeningly sweet that numbed her lips. He laughed._

"_You can't hurt me, pet. There's no use in trying. "_

_He rose from where he crouched next to her, and before she could even realize he had moved, she heard the door slam behind him. She looked over to where the girl's body lay, growing colder by the minute, curled into a ball on the wooden floor and wept._

A shuddering from the vehicle below her jolted Bella from her thoughts. The truck was suddenly knocking, and smoke began pouring from underneath the hood. Bella pulled the truck to the side of the deserted highway. The truck died and quickly coasted to a stop.

"Dammit!" Bella punched the steering wheel of the truck, cracking the plastic piece connecting the left side of the wheel to the steering column. She picked up the shard of black plastic from the floor of the truck and threw it into the passenger seat.

"I should have known this old truck wouldn't make it."

Bella opened the driver's door and climbed out of the truck cab to the pavement below.

_Guess I'll have to walk. Glad the rain stopped._

Bella grabbed her backpack from the truck and slung it over her shoulder slamming the truck's door. She began walking through the damp night in the same direction that the truck had been headed. She still had no idea where she was going, but she had no intention of stopping now. There was no way she could run from them forever. It might be too late for her, but she could still save Charlie and Renée from them. She intended to get as far away from both of them as possible before they caught up to her.

Bella continued walking until her truck was out of sight. She was tired, but there was no way she was stopping here on the road. She veered off into the woods, looking for someplace safe to rest for a few hours. Under a tree that had fallen over long ago, she found a dry patch of earth on which to lie down for awhile. She reached in her backpack and pulled out a jacket, spreading it on the ground beneath her. Lying down, she curled up into a ball beneath the fallen tree and closed her eyes. The sounds of the forest began to lull her to sleep.

Suddenly, the forest grew silent. Not even the wind stirred the leaves of the trees around her. Even Bella stopped breathing for a moment. Something wasn't right. She listened for a moment to the silence, then she heard voices from a distance. She stood from her hiding place and followed the sound through the trees, careful to remain hidden. She saw them through a break in the trees, the young vampire and his large, muscular "brother" crouched over the carcass of a bear.

"Where did she go after school today?" asked the dark-haired vampire.

"We don't know. I went by her house as soon as I could after school, and she was gone. She must have left in the truck because it wasn't there either, and I couldn't follow her scent past the edge of the yard."

Bella's heart stopped beating at the obvious mention of her home. They had been there; her heart sank in her chest. Her only hope was that they wouldn't draw attention to themselves by attacking the small town police chief unprovoked.

"What does Alice see?"

"Nothing more, just her running."

"You really couldn't hear her thoughts?"

_Hear my thoughts? _ Her brain scrambled for an explanation for the last question, but she came up with nothing. She returned her attention to the ongoing conversation.

"No, Em. Sorry."

"Wow, has that ever happened before?" The larger male sounded incredulous. Maybe he was amazed that an apparently human girl was able to escape them.

"Definitely not."

"I wonder what's up with her? I mean, what is she?"

"She smelled human, but something was off. I don't know. I just . . ." He threw his arms up in frustration.

Bella held her breath.

"What does Carlisle say?" The larger one stood, resting his weight against one of the trees that surrounded them.

"He's not sure. He said he had some ideas, but he needed to do more research. He left for Italy this afternoon. He was headed there anyway, but just for one night to clear up a real estate deal that he'd been working on there." The smaller one thrust his hands into his pockets, examining the forest floor below him.

"Well, I guess. . . Did you hear something?"

They both began to look around them for the source of the sound. Bella held her breath, but could do nothing to stop the beating of her heart. For one moment, she locked eyes with the young one before turning to run. The trees became a blur around her as she ran, faster than was possible for any normal human being. She could hear them in pursuit behind her, slowly but surely catching up. Ahead of her lay the road which she now knew she should never have wandered from.

"Wait! Bella!" she heard them yell behind her, but she certainly had no intention of slowing down to find out what they wanted.

Bella reached the road and came to a stop in the center of the paved stretch of highway. From behind her came the sound of a horn. She turned and froze in the headlights of the oncoming van.

_Well, I guess it's all over now. May as well let it end this way. At least they can't have me then. I'm not going back!_

Suddenly from her right, she saw a blur exit the trees and felt the crush of something heavy hitting her. It pushed her out of the road and the path of the van, but she couldn't get her footing. She stumbled and fell, striking her head on the cement curb. The world began to lose focus around her as she slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw were the golden brown eyes of an angel.

-x-x-x-

A/N: Okay, I guess I've left you with a little bit of another cliffhanger. Don't worry everything will be fine. Hope you enjoyed a little more insight into what Bella went through during her captivity. You can find me on Twitter as CereuleanBlue and on my blog cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Thanks for reading.


	6. Dream A Little Dream

Chapter 6: Dream A Little Dream

Okay, so this is BPOV again. Not to worry. We'll hear from Eddie again soon. This part of the story is just Bella's to tell. Things were getting a little heavy back there, it's going to lighten back up for a little while this chapter. This is a long chapter for me, hope you enjoy it.

Sadly nothing belongs to me. All things Twilight belong to SM. Romeo and Juliet belongs to Willie Shakespeare. This is just the story line that is playing itself out in my twisted little brain.

-x-x-x-

"It seemed we'd seen each other in a dream

It seemed like he knew me

He looked right through me

Come on home girl, he said with a smile

You don't have to love me yet . . ."

Magic Man, Heart

-x-x-x-

"Bells, it's time to get up for school," Charlie yelled from downstairs.

Bella stirred in her bed, rubbing her eyes and staring at the clock next to her bed. The large red letters indicated that it was past time for her to get ready for school, and her head was pounding. She reached up to rub the spot that was hurting the most and found a large goose egg under her fingers.

Suddenly, her memories of last night came flooding back to her. She ran to the window looking down and saw her truck sitting in the driveway like she had never moved it at all.

_What's going on? Why am I still alive? Was I dreaming?_

She looked down at her body, checking it for more bite marks or bruises and found none. Her clothes were different than the ones she had left the house in the night before. Her backpack was lying on the floor next to her bed, completely unpacked.

"Bella, get a move on!" Charlie yelled from downstairs. She could sense his aggravation with her slow progress, so she jumped from the bed, grabbing her things and quickly heading to the bathroom. Whatever had happened, she needed to play this off to Charlie like everything was alright. She jumped into the shower and rinsed off the dirt she found under her nails and coating her hands, further proof that last night was real and not a dream. She felt herself begin to shake and lowered herself down to sit in the tub, the water crashing down all around her.

She tried her best to make sense of what had happened in the past twenty-four hours but just couldn't seem to make all the pieces fit. Something wasn't right. Last night, she had been prepared to die just to get it all over with. She had slowly been dying inside for weeks now.

She stood up and rubbed shampoo into her hair. Things didn't make sense. By all rights, she should be dead right now, not washing her hair and getting ready for another day at Vampire Central High School.

_Those eyes. They looked just like __**his **__eyes, the one who saved me in the desert. Was it Edward?_

There was only one way she could get the answers she was looking for. She was just going to have to march straight into the lions' den and demand them. No more running away. Obviously, they weren't going to do anything, because they'd had the perfect opportunity to just let her die last night. Instead, she'd woke up safe and snug her own bed this morning.

Bella climbed out of the shower and pulled on the clothes that she'd brought into the bathroom with her, a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. She never left the house without sleeves or a jacket now. She walked to the sink and quickly brushed her hair and teeth. When she was satisfied with her appearance, she left the small room and headed downstairs to face Charlie.

_I wonder where he thinks I was last night. I hope I'm not in trouble._

"Morning, Dad," she greeted him as warmly as possible when she spied him eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table.

"Morning, Bells. Listen, I'm sorry I got in so late last night. There have been some weird things going on around here lately, and I had to stay at the office to get a few things cleared away. When I got home, you were already asleep."

"Oh, well. I was tired, so I went to bed early." Bella breathed a sigh of relief.

_At least I don't need to come up with some kind of cover story. He thinks I was here all night._

"What's for breakfast?" she asked to steer the conversation away from the night before.

"Cereal . . . I don't normally cook breakfast."

"That's cool, Dad." Bella opened the cabinet next to the refrigerator, grabbing for a bowl.

"Umm. . . Well, how was your first day of school?"

"Alright I guess." Bella poured herself a bowl of cereal and flopped down into the chair across the small round table from her father. They sat, eating in silence for awhile, neither of them willing to be the first to break it.

"Well, Dad, I think I'm gonna get out of here. Don't wanna be late for school right?" She walked over to the sink and dropped her bowl in quickly.

"Okay, Bells. See you later." He seemed relieved to have the kitchen to himself again.

"Bye, Dad."

Bella ran upstairs and grabbed her empty backpack from the floor next to her bed, cramming the books she had gotten from each of her teachers yesterday into it. She snatched some pencils from the cup sitting next to her computer and hurried back down the stairs. The keys to her truck were waiting on the hook next to the front door.

She opened the door and pulled her rain jacket on over the shirt she had chosen this morning, zipping it carefully before stepping out into the morning drizzle. She pulled herself into the cab of the truck by the steering wheel. When she looked down at it, she saw the place where she had broken it in her anger at the truck breaking down last night.

_Will it even start?_

She slid the key into the ignition and twisted. The engine roared to life, shaking the truck beneath her. She put it into reverse and backed out of the drive, shaking her head.

_Will wonders never cease?_

She pulled quietly down the street, not even bothering to turn on the radio, just listening to the swishing of the wiper blades contemplating what she was going to do now. Her mood was strangely elevated. For weeks now, she had been forced to drag herself out of bed each day and go on with the charade that her life had become. Today, she actually looked forward to the rest of the day. It was the first time in months that there was someone who could listen to her story without thinking about checking her into the nearest psychiatric ward. On top of that, it was a possibility that some of her myriad of questions would finally be answered.

She was the first person to arrive at the school building for the day. Pulling into the deserted parking lot, she switched off the truck and simply sat, resting her head on the steering wheel and waiting as the rest of the students slowly began to trickle into the lot. She saw many familiar faces from her eventful day yesterday, but remembered only a few names, Jessica and Angela, of course, and Eric. Their thoughts were much the same as the day before, still focused on her - the shiny new toy. However, the faces she was looking for failed to materialize, and as the bell rang to begin the first class of the day, she found herself running from the truck to avoid being late for English.

Mr. Mason was just beginning to take attendance as she slammed her way into the classroom and tried unsuccessfully to take her seat without gaining the notice of the other students in the room. By the time she was settled, the attention of nearly half the class was focused on her. Students had somehow managed to turn completely around in their desks and openly stare at her.

The boy with too much hair gel was one of the gawkers. His thoughts concerning her were as loud today as they had been yesterday and getting progressively more graphic. Bella felt a blush come to her cheeks as she heard exactly what he had planned for her once she agreed to go out with him.

_I have got to let this one down hard, because I don't think I can take another day of this._

He slid his chair a little closer to hers and whispered.

"Hi, I'm Mike. What's your name?"

"I'm Bella," she whispered in return once she was certain that Mr. Mason's back was turned.

"So, what happened to you yesterday? You ran out of here like Edward Cullen had bitten you or something." He smiled, thinking he had made a witty joke, but was completely unwitting about the accuracy of his statement.

_Oh my God! She's talking to Mike Newton. Of course. Why does he get all the girls?_

She could almost taste the jealousy in Eric's thoughts as he watched their conversation from across the classroom. At this rate, they would all fail English for the year.

"Oh, I just didn't feel good. I had to go home. Sometimes, I get a little faint," she explained. Her excuse was as good as any she could have come up with.

"Oh, I hope you're feeling better this morning." He laced his voice with artificial concern for her health.

"Sure am. So, I was wondering what is there to do around here after school." Bella leaned in a little closer, her breath tickling Mike's ear as she whispered.

"Oh, yeah, well not much. I guess you're used to Phoenix. Probably a lot of cool stuff to do."

"Yeah, I guess. So what do _you_ do after school?" She feigned an interest in his extra-curricular activities.

"Oh, mostly I work in my mom and dad's camping store, but on the weekends most of us go to Port Angeles to hang out."

"Is that far?" Her interest was piqued for the first time in the entire conversation.

"About an hour. Actually, some friends and I were going to the movies there this weekend. Wanna come?" His eyes lit up in anticipation of her answer.

"Oh well, maybe. Let me talk to my dad about it." She was rather noncommittal in her response. She was certain that this would be her main opportunity to give Mike a hint.

"Sure. Let me know ok?" _Yes! Score!_

"Sure."

Bella leaned back in her seat and cut off the conversation with Mike. His thoughts were racing about Bella joining him in a darkened movie theater for more than just a bucket of popcorn. She giggled to herself when she imagined the look that he would have on his face when she showed up on Saturday with a date. Now, it was just a matter of finding one. She had some ideas, like maybe Jacob, but nothing concrete.

Bella waded through the rest of her day. After second period, the rain stopped, and the sun peeked through the clouds. She was slowly learning to tune out the buzz that the other students created in her head and had a much less severe headache today walking into the cafeteria than the day before. She was actually starting to enjoy her day for a change. She scanned the cafeteria for the Cullens, but their table was empty.

"Where are the Cullens?" she asked Jessica quietly.

"Oh, they skip all the time. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen take them camping when the weather is good, but where they are today God only knows. Come on let's sit down."_ Mike's sitting at our table! Squeal!_

The two girls made their way through the cafeteria to the table they had occupied the day before. Mike Newton was sitting there, waiting for them with a big grin on his face.

"Hi, Bella!"

"Hi, Mike," Jessica interrupted, her face lighting up like a birthday cake. _Why's he talking to her? She's not even pretty, I mean really._ "So, whatcha doin this weekend?"

"Oh, just going to the movies with some friends." He replied, dismissively.

"Hey mind if I come?" She giggled, wiggling her legs under the table like a small kid.

"No, everyone's invited. You decided yet Bella?" He leaned forward, probing her with his eyes.

"I still have to ask my dad, but I'll come if he'll let me," Bella replied. She could feel the sting in Jessica's thoughts, as though she had taken out a whip and stuck Bella with it.

_Oh Jesus Christ! Don't tell me he likes Bella! It's just cause she's new. It'll wear off. It's not like she's good looking or anything. I mean look at her! She's not even wearing any makeup._

She sat and picked at her lunch until Angela got up to leave for Biology, and Bella followed closely behind. Walking into the room, she instinctively looked for his face, even though she knew it wouldn't be there. She felt her heart drop when she didn't see his eyes looking back at her from their table.

_What happened to being afraid of them Bella?_

_Well, they did save my life last night._

_That doesn' t make them your friends you know! For all you kno,w they're just saving you for later._

_I know! I just want to ask him some questions. I need answers!_

_Well, he won't be here today stupid. Look at the sunlight streaming through those windows; you'd better keep your arms covered._

Bella stopped arguing with herself and took her seat just in time for class to begin. Mike came in slightly behind her, and Mr. Banner shot him a look that made him scurry to his seat. Mr. Banner started in on his lecture for the day on plant and animal cells, and Bella quickly tuned him out.

The rest of her day was boring and seemed to take an eternity to pass. Today she had to attend gym for the first time since she "left early" the day before. Her teacher allowed her to sit out since it was her first day in his class, but she knew from his thoughts that he was going to require her to participate tomorrow.

_Great! Now I have to worry about hurting somebody._

After gym, she walked slowly to the parking lot and slammed the door of her truck behind her, pulling out of the parking lot as quickly as possible to silence the buzzing voices that were once again beginning to give her a headache. Bella drove straight home and headed inside to work on the homework she'd been assigned for the day.

She sat in blissful silence the rest of the afternoon, not even bothering to turn on the radio or television. She enjoyed the "brain break" afforded by being alone in the house and decided to read. Changing into a short sleeved t-shirt and shorts, she grabbed her tattered copy of _Sense and Sensibility_ and headed out to the backyard to enjoy the sun.

She lay down on the cool green grass of the yard and let the sun play across her skin for the first time in weeks. There had been so many people around all the time in Phoenix that she'd never gotten the chance to admire the way her skin glowed in the sun. It almost made her forget her intentions to read the book she'd carried with her.

Eventually, Bella picked up the book she'd laid near her feet and flipped it open to her favorite spot in the story. She began reading the scene in which all is put to rights, and everyone lives happily ever after.

_If only life worked as it does in books._

She sighed and put the book down on the ground next to her, rolling over to face the sun. After a few moments, she drifted off to sleep. This time she dreamed not of James, but of Edward.

When she woke, the sun was setting. She knew Charlie would be home any minute, and she'd wanted to surprise him by cooking dinner for the both of them. She scrounged around the nearly empty kitchen and found the makings of a spaghetti dinner. As she cooked, the kitchen filled with the scent of tomatoes and oregano. For a moment, she almost felt like her old self again.

-x-x-x-

The next day she arrived at Forks High School early again and waited in the parking lot once more. This time she saw exactly what she was looking for. The Cullens arrived together in a shiny sliver Volvo. They filed out of the car one by one and slowly migrated off to their individual classes. Bella breathed in deeply to try to calm her nerves and got out to follow their lead.

She moved through the beginning half of her day on autopilot, smiling and nodding at most of the questions she was asked by her fellow students. The one time she was called on in Trig to answer a question, she merely pulled the answer the teacher was expecting from her thoughts and delivered it up.

She entered the cafeteria and immediately her eyes shot to their table. There they sat real as life instead of the figments of her imagination they had seemed to be until this moment. She was tempted to go over and confront Edward right then and there but thought better of it.

_This is not the time or the place, Bella Swan. You're going to expose them and yourself if you're not careful._

She managed to sit and appear composed enough throughout the lunch period by placing herself back on autopilot. It helped her to tune out the world around her if she tried to quote Shakespeare from memory. Right now, she was working on Romeo and Juliet.

_Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still,_

_Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will!_

_Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here?_

_Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all._

_Here's much to do with hate, but more with love._

_Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!_

_O any thing, of nothing first create!_

_O heavy lightness! serious vanity!_

_Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!_

_Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!_

_Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!_

_This love feel I, that feel no love in this._

Bella glanced over at the Cullens' table and caught Edward's eyes staring directly into her own.

_Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;_

_Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes;_

_Being vex'd a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears:_

_What is it else? a madness most discreet,_

_A choking gall and a preserving sweet._

She stared back. For a moment, the two of them were caught in a trance by each other. She was brought out of her reverie by Angela shaking her arm.

"Bella, wake up! It's time to go to class. Where were you?"

"Oh, nowhere; just daydreaming." She stood slowly, gathering her untouched food and heading for the nearby trashcan.

"Well, we're gonna be late if we don't hurry." She heard the urgency in Angela's voice. Angela hated to be late for anything, especially science.

"Sorry Ang, let's go."

Bella and Angela walked away from the table with Edward's golden eyes following them the entire way. They reached Biology a few minutes late and hurried to find their seats. She waited as Mr. Varner passed out small white cards divided into four squares, but Edward did not appear. Mr. Banner stood at the front of the room and began to speak.

"Okay class, there's a blood drive in town this weekend, and I thought it would be fun if everyone knew their blood types. Mike come up here and help me demonstrate for the class."

When Mike stood up to walk to the front of the room, Bella's eyes widened in panic. Her heart was racing, and her breathing quickened to nearly become a pant. When Mr. Varner took Mike's hand in his right and used the lancet in his left hand to prick the skin, her eyes flashed red. She looked at the floor, and her hand shot in the air.

"Mr. Banner, can I be excused?" she mumbled quickly.

"Are you alright Bella?" The concern in his voice was real.

"No sir. I don't like blood . ."

"Okay, go to the nurse then."

Bella stood and hurried from the room, keeping her eyes on the floor. When she reached the outside, she sank onto the cement walkway, breathing heavily. She concentrated on the scent of the outdoors to try to calm herself.

"Bella are you alright?"

Before she thought better of it, she looked up to see who was headed towards her so quickly. When Edward Cullen caught sight of her blood red eyes, it stopped him in his tracks. Behind him, frozen in midstep, stood his raven haired sister.

"We need to talk. Is there somewhere we can go?" she said sharply.

"Just a minute." Edward walked across the grass to where Alice stood waiting. She saw him hand his keys to his pixie-like sister and turn to face her.

"Follow me." He led her behind the gym. She followed him closely, carefully picking out her path on the damp ground. When they got around the building, he entered the trees that so closely hugged the campus here. She hesitated for a moment until she saw his golden eyes staring out at her from the darkness. They walked into the woods, the noise from the school fading into the distance. It was hard to tell how far they had come, but she was certain that no matter what happened no one would be able to hear her scream.

He stopped walking and leaned up against a tree, boring those beautiful eyes into hers as though he were trying to see straight down to her soul. Something about his expression looked confused like he didn't quite know what to say. He looked around a moment longer before speaking.

"You said you wanted to talk, so talk." His voice was guarded and hostile.

Bella looked at his face and then back towards the sky. "Why aren't I dead yet?"

"Why would I kill you?"

"I know what you are," Bella said almost in a whisper. She felt her voice tremble, but tried to cover it. She refused to let him know that she was afraid of him. "Don't play games with me."

"And what is it that you think you know?" The sarcasm filled his voice, like he'd had this same conversation a million times before always with the same outcome.

"Everything about you gives you away. Your skin, it sparkles like diamonds. I spotted you from across the cafeteria. Even here, I can still see it. The way you move so carefully, and I would recognize that smell anywhere. . ."

His expression changed in a moment. He dropped his nonchalant look, and allowed the shock to creep across his face. "Smell? You can smell me?"

She nodded slowly and looked up to his face.

"How?" He was nearly yelling. He looked at her accusingly. "Humans can only see our skin in the sunlight, and they definitely can't smell us."

The conversation was entering the territory that frightened Bella the most. She had never spoken aloud about what she knew. That would have made it too real, too permanent. If she kept silent, she could still pretend it was all a bad dream.

Edward was slowly closing the gap between the two of them. He came close enough for her to feel his cold breath on her ear and whispered, "What are you, because you're obviously not just another human girl?"

"I know you saw this." She pulled the sleeves of her shirt up to her elbows, exposing the network of scars that laced both her arms.

His eyes widened, and he stared, fascinated, at her skin. His hand hovered inches above her arm. In the near darkness of the forest, he could still see the gentle sparkle that radiated from each scar, not nearly as glaring as his own skin but still visible to his vampiric eyes.

"What happened to you?" He barely breathed the question, his fingers mere centimeters from her arm.

"You can't tell?" It was obvious to him what the source of the scars had been. It reminded him of his brother's skin, tattooed with the teeth of hundreds of newborns.

"How many are there?" He couldn't count the number of bites that marked her inner elbow alone.

"I lost count," she turned quickly away, roughly pulling the cotton fabric down over her arms and taking a few steps away from him. She fought the urge to run.

"Those scars, they're bites aren't they?"

Bella nodded, facing away from him.

"So that's how you knew. Will you tell me about it?" His tone turned from one of dismissal and sarcasm to concern.

She nodded and reached up to wipe at the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid telling him much longer, but she wondered how much she should say. Could she really trust him? She looked into his brilliant eyes again.

"Please," he whispered, and she felt compelled to speak.

"But you have to promise to answer my questions when I am done. Agreed?"

"Of course." Something about the expression on his face when he answered her, made her feel like she could trust anything he said at that moment.

Bella paced back and forth in the same spot for a few seconds before sitting down on the stump of a felled tree that sat a few feet away from the spot where they had been standing. Edward came forward as if to move closer to her, and she held a hand up to stop him.

"Stay there, please. I don't know if I can handle you being close to me while I talk about this. It's still fresh in my mind." She took a deep breath, clearing her mind before continuing.

"Before I came here, I lived in Phoenix with my mom and my step-dad Phil. I guess I was an average kid. I mean I did everything I was supposed to do, got good grades, came home before curfew. Until Phil came along, it was just me and my mom. We were best friends. After they got married, I felt kind of lonely, so I started hanging out with some girls from my school." Bella could feel her voice begin to shake again. This was the last thing she wanted to even think about, much less share with someone else. Her words began to come faster and faster. If she could just spit it all out at once, she wouldn't have to think about it very long.

"They took me to this party one night, and I met a guy. We went walking to get away from the noise. All I remember is I thought he was going to kiss my hand, and instead he bit my wrist. It burned so much. I passed out from the pain, and when I woke up I had no idea where I was." She could still feel the burn of the venom in her veins and wrapped her hand around her wrist, stroking the scar there, her very first one.

"He kept me chained to a wall for a month. At least, I think it was a month. I lost track of the time that passed there. It felt like years to me, but when I was found, they told me I had been missing for only four weeks." She stopped talking for a moment and looked at the little pieces of gray sky that were peeking through the dense canopy of the trees. She nervously twisted a little piece of hair around her finger and looked back down at the leaf littered ground.

"What happened to you?" Edward finally broke the silence with his question.

"James and his friends took turns drinking my blood. I don't know how many times I was bitten during that time, and I can't count the scars because they criss-cross each other too often to pick out individual ones." It was physically hurting Bella to keep up her end of the conversation, but she felt the need to get it all out now that she had begun.

"Why aren't you a vampire? What kept you from changing?" She could see the curiosity in his face. It looked like it was eating him from the inside out.

Bella spoke quietly, thinking back to the words James had shared with her so many times. "Oh, James was always careful to suck the venom out before he allowed the wounds to heal. He wanted to keep me as long as possible. He told me he planned to change me before he was done, but he never did."

Bella looked at her arm, remembering how James would whisper into her ear, fanning her hair with his icy breath.

_You're mine, forever . . ._

Edward's voice shocked her back into the real world. "How did you get away? Did they just let you go?"

"No, James would never have let me get away alive. I watched him kill the one he held before me. I never even knew her name." The girl's terrified face jumped into Bella's mind. She shook her head to clear the memory. "No, I was rescued I suppose. Until two days ago, I thought I was saved by an angel. Then I saw your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Their color. It's the same color as his were." She stared directly into his eyes, and this time, it was his turn to look away from the intensity of her gaze. "The others were red or black. When I saw you the first time, yours were black as well."

"They're only black when I am hungry. I hunted the night you found us in the woods," he explained.

"Hunted? There aren't any people in the woods out there, right?" Her mind scrambled, remembering that the two of them had been hunched over a dead bear in the woods last night.

He replied with one word, "Animals."

"You can survive off animal blood?"

"Umm. . . the short answer is yes. We can survive, but it's hard." He looked conflicted as if he wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell her.

"Oh, I see. . ."

"You aren't afraid?" Edward's face was incredulous. He looked as if he expected her to run screaming at any moment.

"I should have been dead a long time ago. My number was up from the moment James laid eyes on me. I've been living on borrowed time anyway. So no, I'm not afraid to die. There was a time not too long ago when I was wishing for it." Bella twined her fingers around each other, looking down at her hands.

"Do you know who saved you?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me, but I guess you don't know either." She looked up at him expectantly. From the look on his face, he knew as little about the situation as she did. Somehow, she felt there was something he wasn't telling her.

"Last night, you ran away from us so fast. I had a hard time catching up," he laughed uncomfortably. "Do you do that a lot?"

"Oh, I can run but only for a short distance. I get really tired after that. I'd given up on running when you pushed me off the road." She closed her eyes for a moment, reliving the feeling she had when the car was approaching her.

"Can you do anything else?"

She wondered how much to tell him. "Well, I can hear what other people are thinking, but only for humans apparently because I can't hear anything from you or your family. And I'm stronger than I used to be. I broke the steering wheel on my truck the other night . . ."

"Wait a minute! You can hear thoughts?" Edward's eyes grew wide, and he stared at Bella as she sat, placidly kicking the leaves around her feet.

She nodded.

"But not mine?"

"No." It was hard saying this, but Bella didn't feel like she was really giving up anything. She had never been able to hear a vampire's thoughts.

"Wow, that's weird because I can't hear yours either," he confessed.

"What? You can do that too?" It was now Bella's turn to sit wide eyed with an expression of shock on her face. She hadn't known any vampires with a special talent. James certainly hadn't been able to hear what she was thinking, or he hadn't let her know about it, at any rate.

"Yes," Edward reached back and pushed his hair out of his face with a sigh. "I've never met a human who could though."

"Can the rest of your family read minds?" Perhaps this explained the differences in their eyes. She looked up at him, expectantly.

"No, in my family it's just me. It's very rare. Gifts are few and far between in the vampire world."

They sat not speaking for a few moments. The forest around them was eerily silent, not even the wind stirred in the branches of the trees. After a few moments, Bella shifted her position slightly and smiled.

"By the way, how did my truck get home?"

"Emmett and I fixed it and brought you back in it. We took you upstairs and put you to bed."

Bella blushed, "How did my clothes get changed?"

"Oh," laughed Edward, "my sister Alice met us there."

"Oh . . ." Bella was still embarrassed. She never let anyone see her even partially unclothed since she had been found. They always asked too many questions.

"So, I guess it's my turn. Your eyes? They've faded now; they're almost the same color as mine, but why were they red before?"

"I was hoping you would be able to tell me. I don't even know. I've been trying to understand for a long time now." Bella felt a little guilty for lying, but there were some things that she felt as if she needed to keep to herself, at least for now.

"I think I need to take you to meet my father. He should be home by now. He can answer a lot more questions than I can."

He reached his hand out to help her rise from her seat and together they walked from the forest to the parking lot of the school.

-x-x-x-

A/N: Yes it was a short trip to Italy, but Carlisle was only headed there for business, and he knew what he was looking for anyway. More to come in the next chapter.

You can follow me on Twitter as CereuleanBlue or on my blog cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com. I also post on Team Fire & Ice: teamfireice (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Come give us a visit.


	7. Heaven and Earth

Chapter 7: Heaven and Earth

-x-x-x-

A/N: Sorry for the wait. RL rears its ugly head. Let's just suffice it to say I spent most of my Thursday sitting in a hospital room with my husband, and for some strange reason I agreed to spend the next three weeks teaching summer school (could be the money, I'm not sure . . . ).

Okay, this one is EPOV. We're going to have a little flash back in time to when Bella took off from Forks High School. I wanted everyone to get to know things from Eddie's point of view. I started to make this one an extraordinarily long chapter, but thought you might appreciate a quicker update and two shorter chapters (It's still one of the longest I've submitted so far.)

Thanks to JShay for the quick beta read through. I added some direct quotes from you this time, hope you don't mind too much!

Enjoy!

-x-x-x-

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

_Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5, _William Shakespeare

-x-x-x-

"She's going to run," Alice said in a voice that was only audible to vampiric ears. Edward had a vision of Bella running, wide-eyed through the trees of a forest as if fleeing for her life. He felt a strong urge to follow and ensure her safety, but it would look suspicious for him to follow her now. He determined that the best course of action would be to wait for school to end so that he and his family could track her from a distance.

Alice's vision shifted, and he once again saw Bella driving the red truck that she had sped out of the parking lot in through a rain soaked night.

_She's going to be okay Edward. For some reason, I can only catch bits and pieces, but I haven't seen anything bad happening to her. Why do I see you going after her though? She's just a girl. _

"Later, Alice," he whispered.

_Alright. I can see you'll be owing me a few favors after this anyway . . . Yes!_

Edward saw himself in her mind, arms loaded with shopping bags as Alice pulled pair after pair of designer trousers off the rack in one of the Seattle boutiques. He groaned and turned to head to his next class. He entered Spanish slightly behind his classmates and quietly found his seat. Senora Goff walked over to his chair and leaned over him, her long black hair brushing the desktop.

"Hola, Edward." She smiled brightly. _Hola, Senõr Derecho. Alguien ha dicho que estaba buscando para mi. _

"Hola, Senõra Goff," he replied politely, trying not to laugh.

"¿Cõmo estàs?" she inquired.

"Bien, gracias. Y tu?" He provided the standard response expected in every Spanish class since the beginning of time.

"Bien, gracias." _¿Hace calor aqui, o eres tù?_

Senõra Goff turned and faced the rest of the class as Edward stifled his laughter at her thoughts. She had momentarily distracted him from his confusion at Bella's behavior, but as soon as her attention was diverted from his face, the doubts began creeping back into his mind.

_What could have caused her to run away like that? Does she know?_

The class droned on around him. Although Senõra Goff did seem to have a thing for Edward, she generally left him to his thoughts during class. He was already fluent in several languages in including Spanish and French, and she thought it would be unfair to the rest of the class if she allowed him to shine more than any of the other students. The situation suited Edward just fine.

_Her skin, those scars. It looks so much like Jasper's skin. How many times was she bitten? Why isn't she a vampire?_

He mulled over the thousand questions that her disappearance left in his mind. Edward had learned patience in his century as a vampire, but he was not used to being kept in the dark like this. Never in all those years had he met a human whose mind was as closed off to him as hers was. It was maddening and intriguing at the same time. Usually when he met someone, their thoughts were open to him in an instant. They became just so much noise inside his already noisy brain, but this girl with her scars and golden eyes. What wouldn't he give to know what she knew and who or what she really was?

A thousand possibilities circled through his mind, but none of them seemed plausible. She couldn't be a vampire, and she was definitely not just a human. The only explanation he could come up with was that she was some strange hybrid of the two, but he had never heard of such a thing. He needed to talk to Carlisle. If anyone could help him explain this, Carlisle could, but it would have to wait. First, they needed to find Bella.

The bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Edward left the class as quickly as possible without being noticed and made his way to the parking lot where his shiny silver car was parked in its usual spot. His brothers and sisters were on their way out to the car, so he leaned against it and waited for them to arrive. He handed his keys to Jasper who looked confused.

"Don't worry Jazz. We'll be home soon. We're all supposed to go hunting this afternoon, remember?" Alice came skipping up behind him. "Edward and I just need to run a little errand first. We'll see you back at the house." She grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him towards the edge of the parking lot. "Let's go. She won't be there, but you'll need to see for yourself anyway."

They walked together until they hit the woods at the pavement's edge where they broke into a run. The trees became a blur, and they moved as quickly as possible towards Chief Swan's house. When they reached the edge of the yard, they stopped. Edward could hear no movement from the house. No heartbeat, no breathing. The red pickup truck was missing from the driveway. Alice checked to make sure no one was watching them from the neighborhood before scrambling up onto the roof from the backyard and gently opening the window. Edward quickly followed behind her, and they silently entered the darkened bedroom that lay behind the glass.

The room obviously belonged to a bachelor. It was sparsely furnished with simply a bed, night table and dresser in a matching shade of cherry. The sheets on the bed held a simple design of pine trees and moose on a beige background. The closet door stood open, and the clothes inside were a mixture of Charlie's police uniforms and plaid shirts with khaki pants, his usual fishing attire. The only picture on the wall was of Charlie and a little dark haired girl with a large trout held up between them. The little girl looked anything but pleased to be holding the large fish.

Edward picked up Bella's strange scent out in the hallway beyond the open door. As they entered the hallway, the scent was obviously strongest in the house's only other bedroom. There was not a living thing left in this house, but maybe there would be some clue as to Bella's whereabouts here.

_She's gone. I told you so . . ._

"Shut up, Alice," he hissed with a growl. He walked into what must have been her bedroom and found it a mess. The bed was unmade, clothes littered the floor, and an overturned lamp sat on the floor next to the night table. She must have left in a hurry. She didn't spend even a few seconds to put things to rights before hurrying out the door. Alice walked in behind him.

_Wow, this place is a pig sty. Looks like she left in a hurry. What did you do, bite her?_

He growled at this sister as she grinned back at him. He pushed past her out into the hall and stalked down the stairs to the kitchen. She hadn't been here in quite some time. The freshest scent trail on the first floor led directly to the front door. He followed it, gingerly opening the door to avoid drawing attention to himself. Alice leapt down from Bella's bedroom window into the driveway below.

"Alice, what are you doing?"

"No one was watching. I was just having a little fun," she pouted at the irritation in Edward's tone. "Besides she's long gone. I told you she wouldn't be here, and there's no point in going after her. I can see quite clearly that if you search you'll never find her, but if you go on with your day she'll practically fall into your lap. I can't tell when or where. I just see her running through the woods somewhere." _You know I'm right._

He saw Alice's visions clearly as she spoke. In the first, he searched the roads around Forks futilely for her. No one had seen her face, and her scent ran out at the edge of the drive leaving only that of car exhaust. He searched for days to no avail and gave up in disgust.

In the second, he saw them both running through the trees. He was chasing her. The vision changed, and he held her unconscious - but breathing - body in his arms laying her down gently on the bed he had seen upstairs. Alice stood behind him in the room, and she gently reached out to smooth Bella's hair away from her face and cover her with a blanket lying on the foot of the bed.

"No use in fighting fate Edward. She's coming to you, but on her own terms not yours."

He shrugged frustrated, but followed Alice as she went back towards the woods. She broke into a run while he continued walking slowly. He needed some distance from his sister. He didn't think he could take the gloating in her thoughts for another minute. Of course she was right. Alice always was, but did she have to rub it in so much? You would think she would grow weary of it after a few decades, but she never did.

After giving her a few minutes head start, he began running himself, only slowing down to cross a couple of streets on his way back home. The last time he came out of the woods he entered a large meadow at the center of which sat a beautiful Victorian house. He could hear his family inside, all waiting and wondering about his strange behavior today. He walked slowly across the lawn to the front door and twisted the knob, letting himself in.

"Where have you been Edward? We were worried," Esme met him at the door with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, Mom. I just had some thinking I needed to do. I guess Alice told you where we were."

"She did. Why are you so worried about a human girl?" The concern in her eyes troubled him. He hated to worry her, but there was little he could do about it now.

"I'm not sure. Is Carlisle home?"

"He's in his office waiting for you. Alice said you would need to speak with him."

_Dammit Alice! Can't have any surprises around here can we?_

"Okay, I'll be back down in a minute."

Edward took the stairs two at a time and headed towards the door of Carlisle's office on the second floor. His fingers brushed against the wooden cross that hung on the wall as he passed it. When he reached the door of the study, Carlisle spoke before Edward could knock.

"Come in Edward." Carlisle was standing near the door, studying one of the many paintings that papered this wall. He turned to look at Edward as he entered the room. "Alice said you would need to speak with me."

"Well, yes, but I'm not even sure what to say."

"Start at the beginning then," Carlisle replied simply.

"I'm sure she told you where we were." Edward sighed in exasperation with his sister's meddling.

"Actually, she didn't." Edward was surprised with his father's reply.

"Oh, well. There was a new student at school today. Bella Swan."

"Chief Swan's daughter?" _All this fuss about a human girl? That's not like you Edward._

"Yes, but something isn't right about her Carlisle. Her arms are covered in scars like Jasper's. They look like bite marks. Her eyes and her skin near the scars are like ours. I just. . . I don't know."

Carlisle's eyes widened in shock. "Like ours? Is she one of us?" _I haven't sensed any other vampires near here._

"No, she has a heartbeat. She breathes. She's alive, Carlisle. She smells like a human, but there's an undercurrent of something else there too. I've never experienced anything like it." He studied his hands as he spoke.

"Are you sure?" _It could have been a trick._

"More certain than I have ever been of anything in my existence." Edward stared directly into Carlisle's eyes as he spoke to convey his certainty.

"I've heard of a few occasions where a human was bitten but didn't transform because the venom was removed before any changes could take place. I've actually seen it happen once. . ." Edward interrupted his incomplete thought.

"That's not all. . . She ran away from me. I saw her scars, and she ran faster than I could catch up."

"What? She was faster than you?"

"Yes . . ." Edward's voice trailed off.

"Did you find her Edward? Carlisle seemed insistent.

"No, she's gone. We searched her house as soon as possible after school today, but she was long gone. When I tried to track her the scent stopped at the edge of the yard." He sighed, remembering his frustration at being unable to track her any futher than that.

"What did Alice see?"

"Nothing really, only her running away from me in the woods later today. She says she's having a hard time keeping up with her. I can tell you that what she is seeing is rather patchy. What should I do?" Edward hoped that his father would have some kind of answer for him.

"Trust her instincts son. They've never led us wrongly before. Most of your mistakes have come when you tried to go against them."

"I'll try, but what do you think is going on? I mean, what is she?" That was the million dollar question.

"I don't really know what to make of this, Edward. I must admit you've piqued my curiosity, and there is only one place I can go to get any answers in this situation. If this has ever been seen before the Volturi will have it in their records. I hate to leave you all, but I feel like I must investigate this further for the safety of our family. Go and tell Esme that I need to see her." _I was leaving on a 9:00 flight tonight anyway for Italy. Tell the others I'll be staying an extra night rather than returning tomorrow as planned. _ "I'll explain everything upon my return. I'm sure Alice will keep an eye out on things while I am gone." _And you know I am never more than a phone call away. I know you need some answers son, and I'll do my best to bring them back for you._

"Thanks, Carlisle."

Edward headed out the door as Esme entered the second floor hallway. She had heard Carlisle from downstairs.

_I'm sorry he doesn't know Edward. You know he would help you if he could._

"I know, Mom. It's okay; just go."

She reached out and touched his shoulder as he passed her. He ignored it and went downstairs to the garage where his brothers and sisters had congregated. They all looked up at him when he came in, their eyes full of expectation.

"Well?" Emmett asked, smiling.

"Nothing, Em, at least nothing Alice hasn't told you already. Thanks a lot, Ally!"

"You didn't say it was a secret." Alice smiled. "Besides, if she's going to be a part of our lives from now on they all need to know."

"She's not going to be a part of our lives, Alice. I don't even know her," he snapped.

"You know what I saw. She's going to be a part of our life, like it or not!" Alice was nearly shouting. She grabbed Jasper's hand and nearly ran out of the door.

"Wow, Ed. You really pissed her off." Rosalie lay on the floor of the garage under Emmett's Jeep.

"Confucius say 'Better to be pissed off than pissed on.'" Emmett laughed from across the room. Rose reached out from under the Jeep and tossed a socket wrench at his head. Emmett caught the wrench in mid flight and broke it in two. "You gotta have better aim than that, baby, if you intend to do any real damage."

Rosalie pushed herself out from under the Jeep, wiping her hands on the rag tucked into her back pocket.

"Alright boys, it's been fun, but I've got an appointment with the shower. Catch you later." She thumped the back of Edward's head as she passed.

"Looks like just me and you bro. You ready?" Emmett bellowed from across the room

"Yeah, I guess." Edward shrugged.

"Aww come on. . . Where do you wanna hunt? I'm in the mood for some bear tonight." Emmett cracked his knuckles.

"I guess it's the Goat Rocks Wilderness then." The park was the only place Edward knew to find a large supply bears in the area. Even then, they were rare enough that the Cullens hunted them sparingly, but Edward looked forward to the challenge a bear presented to get his mind off the day's events.

"You guessed right, lil' bro! Let's get going. It'll be dark soon, and you know they're the grumpiest in the early evening. Come on." Emmett grabbed Edward's arm and tugged him towards the door. Edward followed him reluctantly. Once again, he found himself running through the trees at top speed. He easily passed Emmett and stayed a little ahead of him to avoid conversation. Running had become second nature to Edward over the years. He could do it without thinking, so this gave him the perfect opportunity to let his mind wander.

The first place it went was to her eyes, those beautiful eyes, a mix of honey and chocolate. He shook his head to clear it of the picture that was forming in his mind. He shouldn't be so obsessed with this girl.

_It must just be the mystery of her. When I find out what she actually is, I'm sure it will be something boring, and I can go back to my normal existence. _

Edward scented a bear a few miles north of where he now found himself and stopped in his tracks. Emmett stopped a few feet to his left.

"Smell that Em?" Edward held his nose in the air.

"Sure do, bro! Smells like fresh meat. Last one there is a rotten egg." Emmett ran off towards the source of the smell. Edward stayed behind a little. Emmett would enjoy this a lot more than him. Better let him have his fun.

_Maybe then he'll get off my case._

When Edward came upon the scene, Emmett already had his bear pinned against the ground draining it of blood. His eyes slowly changed from black to butterscotch as he drank his fill. When he finished, he stood up, wiping his mouth on the back of his plaid sleeve.

"What took you so long, bro? It's your turn now. There's another one down by the stream there. I can smell him too. He stinks worse than you!"

"Very funny. Come on."

Edward made his way through the forest silently. He snuck up behind the large animal standing at the edge of the small stream in a clearing in the forest. Edward wasn't in the mood for games, so he went straight for the animal's neck when he pounced, slicing the skin there open with his razor sharp teeth. The bear went down with a growl and reached out for his attacker, but the venom had already begun its work. The bear was too weak to do any damage or even move Edward's body more than an inch. Before Emmett could catch up, the bear was lying on the forest floor.

"Did you save any for me?" Emmett laughed.

"Sorry, no." Edward grinned.

"So, what happened today?" The large young man looked over at him quizzically.

"I thought Alice already told you."

"She told us part of it, but even she didn't know what set you off wanting to go to her house. She's just a girl Eddie." Emmett laughed and looked at Edward with a big grin on his face.

"That's the thing, Emmett. She's not."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw her skin today. Her arms are covered in scars, and the skin there looks just like ours. She ran off when she saw me staring, faster than I could catch up." Edward could feel the air rushing out of his lungs as he spoke to Emmett. He hadn't shared his experience today with anyone except Carlisle.

Emmett's eyes grew wide, and he looked at Edward incredulously. "What do you mean? You're the fastest of us all, and a human girl out ran you?"

"I told you Emmett. I don't think she's human."

"She's not a vampire. I heard her heart today in the cafeteria."

"So did I. She's alive. Not one of them, not one of us." Edward felt as if he had hit on something, but he wasn't sure where it was leading him.

"Where did she go after school today?"

"We don't know. I went by her house as soon as I could after school, and she was gone. She must have left in the truck because it wasn't there either, and I couldn't follow her scent past the edge of the yard."

"What does Alice see?"

"Nothing more, just her running."

"You really couldn't hear her thoughts, Edward?" Emmett raised his eyebrows and looked at Edward in disbelief.

"No, Emmett. Sorry."

"Wow, has that ever happened before?"

"Definitely not."

"I wonder what's up with her? I mean, what is she?"

_Just what I would like to know. _Edward thought. "She smelled human, but something was off. I don't know. I just . . ." He threw his arms up in frustration.

"What does Carlisle say?"

"He's not sure. He said he had some ideas, but he needed to do more research. He left for Italy this afternoon, but he had to go there anyway for some real estate deal he needed to close on."

"Well, I guess. . . Did you hear something?" The sound of leaves rustling followed by the thrum of a heartbeat careening wildly out of control caught their attention at the same moment.

They both began to look around for the source of the noise. Suddenly, Edward found a pair of familiar eyes staring at him from the edge of the clearing. Their gazes locked for a moment before she turned to flee. He ran after her. At first, she easily out ran him, but slowly he started to catch up, almost as if she were beginning to tire. He heard Emmett running behind them and tried to speed up to stop her before she hurt herself.

"Wait, Bella!" he called after her.

He saw her exit the woods ahead of him and stop in the road. Her back and hair were lit up by the headlights of an oncoming van. The driver honked the horn, and suddenly, time seemed to stand still.

_Not her._

He sped up and felt the air open up around him as he exited the trees, followed by the sensation of slamming into her frozen body and knocking her onto the pavement. He felt her head slam onto the curb as they landed in a heap on the ground.

_Oh God!_

He immediately scrambled to his feet and knelt over her upturned face as her eyes began to lose focus and drifted shut. He felt her head beneath the hair where it had struck the ground. He could already feel a large bump beginning to form there. He listened for her heart and found it normal. She was still breathing. He was fairly certain she was going to be okay, but he had no intention of letting her out of his sight until he was certain.

Emmett exited the trees as the van drove off into the distance.

"Hey, Ed, is she alright?" He stopped in the middle of the road.

"I think so Em, but we need to get her out of here."

"Where is her truck?"

"I don't know, see if you can find it back that way." Edward pointed down the highway to the place that Bella had come from, and Emmett dashed off into the distance. Edward picked up Bella's limp body carefully and leaned her head on his shoulder. He carried her out of the road and into the edge of the trees. He felt the phone in his pocket begin to buzz and immediately brought it up to his ear.

"I'll meet you at her house in an hour." Alice's voice rang in his ear. "Tell Em the truck's got a problem with the gas line. There's some trash in it."

Edward hung up the phone without speaking, and Emmett came running back.

"I found the truck, but it won't start."

"Alice says there's some trash in the fuel line. If you clean it out you can get it started. Come on." They rushed down the road back to where the truck stood waiting just as Bella had left it. Edward laid her gently in the seat of the car, and he and Emmett climbed under the front of the truck. Edward easily found the fuel line and pulled it loose from underneath the engine. He took a small stick he found lying on the ground and pushed it through the small opening at the end of the tube. From out the other end a small piece of junk came flying out and Edward hooked it back up in the correct spot under the engine. He and Emmett stood up from their place on the ground.

"I guess Alice was right." Emmett grinned.

"Alice is always right," Edward scowled. "You drive." Edward walked over to where he had laid Bella in the seat. Her car keys were peeking out of her pocket, and he gently pulled them out of her pants, handing them to Emmett. Edward then dashed around the truck to the passenger door. Bella still lay across the seat of the truck, so he gently lifted her head and placed it on his leg. Her feet rested in Emmett's lap as he cranked up the truck and pulled onto the highway.

They drove in silence for quite sometime, and Edward continued to listen for her heart beat and breathing. At first, her heart was still fluttering quickly, but as they drove it began to slow to a more regular rate. Her breathing slowed to match. Edward checked her head again and found that the lump there had ceased its swelling. She moaned in her sleep and snuggled closer to Edward.

Emmett laughed, "Look at you, bro. That's trouble."

"Not you too. Alice is going to be bad enough without having all the rest of you in behind her."

"What are you talking about?" Emmett looked back at him. "I thought you said Alice didn't see anything . . ."

"Alice told me I would run into her tonight. She said Bella is going to be part of all our lives from now on."

"Dude, I wouldn't go betting against Alice if I were you." Emmett's eyes widened as he shook his head.

"Alice isn't always right, people can change their minds." He shook his head.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, man." Emmett chuckled.

They continued to drive the rest of the way to Forks in silence. When they arrived in Bella's driveway, Alice stood by the front door waiting for them. Edward pulled Bella into his arms and carried her up the walk carefully so as not to wake her.

"You won't wake her up Edward. She's out for the night. No one is home. Charlie's working late, so he won't be home for a couple of hours. Let's get her into the house. I told you she's going to be fine." Alice smiled.

She held open the door as Edward entered gently, still carrying Bella's sleeping body. She moaned and stirred a little as he started to ascend the stairs but settled back into his arms with a sigh. Edward felt her warm breath against his chest and something stirred in his long dead heart. The thirst burning in his throat was nothing compared to the pain in his chest. If he weren't already dead, he would have thought he was having a heart attack.

When they reached the bedroom, he laid Bella down gently on the bed and stared at her for a long moment. He felt Alice's hand on his shoulder.

_I told you so silly boy . . ._

He turned and walked away from the bed as Alice sat on the edge, smoothing Bella's hair from her face.

"You go downstairs. I'll be done in a minute."

Edward walked downstairs, trying unsuccessfully to block the images coming from Alice's mind as she changed Bella into the pajamas she had found in the dresser drawer. Her skin was pale and shone in the moonlight. He could see that there were scars covering not only her arms put the rest of her upper body as well including a large one wrapping around her left side. He had never seen any living person covered as she was. He fought the venom that welled up in his mouth and the urge he felt to kill whoever had done this to her.

He stood frozen on the stairs until he felt Alice come up behind him. She laid her head on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "It's going to be alright Edward. I promise." _You'll see._

"How do you know Al? I know you haven't seen anything."

"I don't know; I just have a feeling. It's really hard for me to see her, but I just know things are going to work out." _You deserve that, Edward. If anyone deserves to be happy it's you._

"Alice, I'm just going to leave her alone. Carlisle will find out if she poses a threat to us from the Volturi, and I'm just going to let her live her life. I think she's had enough suffering for several lifetimes." He sighed.

"Edward . . ."

"Enough Alice," he interrupted her. "You and Emmett go home. I'm going to stay here and make sure she's alright. I'll leave when Charlie gets home. I just don't want her to be alone. She might have a concussion."

_Yeah, right. _"Okay, Edward. See you at the house." Alice flashed him a grin and jumped on Emmett's back. "Let's go, monkey man."

"Later Eddie," Emmett said as he opened the door taking Alice out into the dark night.

Edward dashed back up the stairs and settled himself into the rocking chair in the corner of the small bedroom. It was strangely silent here. The only things he could hear were Bella's slow, gentle breathing and gently beating heart. She turned over on her side and sighed. Suddenly, she began to thrash about in her sleep violently. She grabbed her wrist and screamed.

"No, please don't! It burns!" Her breathing increased, and her heart sped up to a nearly a buzz. "Please let me go, please."

He stood up and made his way to her side. He fought the urge to hold her, but couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching her face. She cringed away from his touch, and he pulled his hand back.

_Of course she's scared of me. I'm a monster after all._

He retreated back to his seat in the rocking chair, and her breathing began to slow.

"Don't leave me," Bella whispered in her sleep.

He looked up startled. Was she awake? No, her eyes were still closed, and her heart had slowed to a normal rate.

"Where did my angel go?" She sighed and curled up into an even tighter ball on the small bed. The blazing red numbers on the clock on the night table read 11:35.

_Amazing what can happen in a few hours. I don't care what Alice said. She'll be better off without us. Hopefully, she'll think tonight is just another dream._

Edward heard a car pull up into the drive and peeked out of the window carefully to avoid being seen. Charlie opened the cruiser door and walked up the drive to the front door. He heard the door open and shut, the lock clicking in the frame, and Charlie's heavy footsteps on the stairs. Edward dashed into the closet, pulling the door gently shut behind him.

_Bella must already be in bed. I hope she had a good first day. She deserves something good for a change._

The bedroom door opened, and Charlie walked in gently to avoid waking Bella. He gently sat on the side of the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders.

_Good night, Bella baby. I love you._

Charlie rose and made his way as stealthily as humanly possible to his room. Edward made his way from the closet and settled back into the rocking chair. He had planned to leave as soon as Charlie made it home, but it was growing harder and harder for him to leave this place. He sat as still as a statue, not even breathing and settled in for what was going to be a long night.

-x-x-x-

**A/N:**

Okay, this seemed like a logical stopping point to me. The next chapter will be EPOV as well. I won't put off Bella meeting the rest of the Cullens any longer. I promise.

Come play with me on Twitter if you like. I'm amusing enough or read my blog for a taste of my randomness.


	8. Let the Rain Fall

**Chapter 8: Let the Rain Fall**

**Author's Chapter Notes:**

Okay kids. Here's what you've all been waiting for. It's finally time for Meet the Cullens (starring Dr. Cullen as the dad). Hope you enjoy it. This is officially the longest chapter I have written thus far. These things just keep getting bigger and bigger don't they?

Thanks to JShay and JayJayHale for giving this the once over. Yes even I (the comma Nazi) forget a comma occasionally.

All things Twilight belong to SM!

-x-x-x-

"I'm shedding

Shedding every color

Trying to find a pigment of truth

Beneath my skin.

Cause different

Doesn't feel so different

And going out is better

Than always staying in."

_Come Clean, Hillary Duff_

-x-x-x-

The glowing red numbers on the clock next to the bed now read 5:46. Edward heard a scratching at the window and spoke in a whisper without turning his head.

"I know what time it is, Alice. I'll be home soon. We don't have to be at school for over two hours."

_We're not going to school today, Mr. Smarty Pants. The sun's going to be out this afternoon, but you need to leave soon because she'll be waking up in a few minutes. Do you really want her to catch you sitting there? I'm sure that would make a great third impression._

"Alright, Alice. I'm coming."

He rose gently and silently made his way over to the window, climbing out onto the roof and sliding it shut behind him. Alice sat there, waiting for him on the gable next to Bella's window with a huge grin on her face.

_Edward and Bella sitting in a tree . . ._

"Oh God, Alice, shut up! It's not like that. I was just making sure she was alright. She hit her head pretty hard last night. She could have gotten a concussion." He let his exasperation with her foreknowledge show in his voice.

They began to climb down from the roof gently to avoid waking the humans inside. The street in front of the house was deserted, and the sky was beginning to lighten to a dull gray. The morning would be overcast as usual, but he saw in Alice's thoughts that the sun would be out in all its glory this afternoon, filling this usually darkened space with glittering light.

_She's beautiful Edward. I can't wait to get my hands on that hair. . ._

"Wait a minute Al. We're not all of a sudden adopting her just because I stayed over there last night. Things have got to go on like nothing happened. With any luck, she won't even remember what happened last night."

"Are you mental, Edward Cullen? You are just going to let her wake up in that bed with no explanation about how she got there? She'll be in the looney bin for sure by the time you get done with her." _I won't let you do that to my best friend._

"Your best friend?" Edward snorted. "You don't even know her."

"Wait and see." Alice grinned, knowingly.

"Okay Alice, enough of that. The poor girl has been through enough already with having to be subjected to you too. Take it easy. Lucky thing for her we aren't going to school today. At least she'll have 24 hours to recover before you attack her." He smiled to himself.

"Oh, dammit, that's right. Well it can wait for tomorrow. We've got forever anyway." She skipped ahead a little.

"Forever? Alice, what aren't you telling me?" He sped up to catch up to her.

_Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light . . ._

"Quit trying to block me. There's something you don't want me to know."

"I'll tell you when you're ready. Now's not the right time. If I tell you now, then you'll just overreact and ruin things." She giggled and ran ahead of him. He could have easily caught her, but the silence was pleasant after her chatter.

He had spent the night wrestling with his demons while watching Bella sleep. His mind was still torn. Part of him wanted to keep her close to him and protect her from whatever had hurt her before. The other half of him wanted to keep her as far away from himself as possible, for both their sakes.

_Hopefully, whatever Carlisle finds out will put an end to all of this, and things can go back to normal. _

He continued walking until he reached the edge of the yard around the Cullens' home and made his way quickly to his room. He could hear the thoughts of his family, wondering where he had been, but they all respected him enough to give him the space he thought he needed right now. He attempted to block them all from his mind and turned to the huge stereo system in his room, hitting the play button. The room filled with the sound of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. He lay back on the leather couch and closed his eyes allowing the music to consume his thoughts.

Edward lay still as a stone for hours, afraid to move in case the movement might bring some thought of her back to his mind. There was no reason that he should be so consumed with a human girl, and he had nearly convinced himself that it was the mystery of her existence that had captured his thoughts. This illusion was so carefully constructed that any movement might shatter it to pieces around him, so he lay there not moving and scarcely even breathing.

After awhile, the sun came out of the clouds just as Alice had predicted. He opened his eyes when he felt the warmth of the sunshine behind his eyelids and rose to a seated position on the couch. He watched the light play across his skin for a moment. The sparkle that he saw there still mesmerized him sometimes. Usually, he stared at his skin in disgust. It was one of the many things that made him different than the humans he had surrounded himself with on a daily basis. Today however, it reminded him of her. It was, at least, one thing they had in common.

That little sparkle was enough to send his precariously balanced world crashing down around his ears, and he knew for certain now that it was too late. Something inside of him had changed because of her, and he would never be the same again. He had to find someone to talk to who would understand.

_If you need someone to talk to Edward, you know where to find me. _He heard Jasper as clearly as if they were in the same room, even though he knew that Jasper was downstairs in front of the television. There was no one else in the house. The rest of the family was out completing the hunting trip that had been interrupted by last night's emergency. Edward rose from the couch and quickly made his way to where Jasper sat waiting for him.

"Hi, Jasper."

"Hi, Edward. I can tell you're confused about something. Need someone to talk to?" Jasper reached for the remote, turning the volume down to an almost inaudible level and turning his attention to his brother.

"Yeah, I think I do. Umm . . . I hate to get too personal, but can you tell me what it was like for you when you met Alice?"

Jasper sighed and a faraway look crossed over his face. "Oh, I was a different person when I met Alice. You know what my life was like back then. Fighting and killing was my way of life until she found me in that diner." He smiled, remembering.

"I know Jasper. I've seen your memories of your time in the army. Go on." Edward urged him to continue.

"At first, I was so confused. She scared me a little. I honestly didn't know what to make of her. This little girl just appears in my life saying that she was destined to be there, and I was just supposed to accept it all with no question." Jasper's story came gushing out. "I don't think anyone else but Alice knows this, but I started to run away. I left for a couple of days, until I figured out that I missed her. It felt like a piece of me was missing." He frowned and turned to look at Edward. "When I came back, she was there waiting for me. She knew I would come back. I finally felt whole, and I haven't left her since."

Edward sat in a stunned silence for a few moments. He would never have believed those words were coming from Jasper's mouth. "Wow, I never knew Jasper," he spoke quietly. "You actually left her?"

"Yeah, that was the worst mistake I ever made in my life. It was like I was trying to run away from my own heart. I just couldn't do it," Jasper looked into Edward's face concerned. "So, out of curiosity why do you ask?"

"It doesn't matter . . ."

Jasper stopped him in midsentence. "Like hell it doesn't. I know what you're feeling Edward. It's the same thing I felt all those years ago, but you're even more confused than I was." Jasper's eyes flashed in anger at Edward's confusion. "You're really going to screw things up."

Edward was taken aback by the tone in his brother's voice. He stammered for a moment before speaking. "Well, it's just that I don't even know _what_ she is, much less who. Honestly, we've never even spoken to each other. I started out thinking that I was just so consumed with the mystery of figuring out why she's different than the other humans, but now I think it's something else." For some reason his words felt like an excuse.

"I think you're right Edward. There's something more there. You should talk to her. She might have some answers for you."

"I don't know. I think I'm the last thing on Earth she wants to see. You should have seen the way she looked at me yesterday, like I was some kind of monster. It would probably be better for all of us if I just kept away from her." Edward looked out the window as he spoke.

"Oh, God. Don't! You're just going to wind up torturing us all, and I don't know how much more of it I can stand. Will you at least talk to her? I'm not saying you need to propose tomorrow or anything. Just give it a try and see if she runs away screaming." Jasper grabbed his arm, and Edward turned to face him.

"It would probably be best if she did." Edward ran his fingers through his hair and frowned.

"Whatever Edward, I think you might be surprised." Jasper stood up and walked across the room. _You can't run away forever you know._

"I know."

_Then you know what you have to do for your own sanity, don't you?_

"I do . . ."

_Then do it please, for me if nothing else._

"I'll try Jasper. That's all I can promise you. I'll try."

"I guess that will have to be enough for now then." Jasper turned and smiled at him. "Anyway, what do you think of this weather?"

Edward laughed. "You're asking me about the weather? I think it's nice to have a day out of that hole of a high school for a change."

"Oh, and here I thought that you we're aching to be back there in the mere presence of Miss Swan again." Jasper laughed this time. It was a nice change from the heavy conversation they had just found themselves involved in.

"Jesus, Jasper. You're just as bad as Alice." Edward got up and walked out of the living room through the double glass doors.

_Later, Edward._

Edward could hear Jasper laughing as he walked away and felt the waves of amusement coming off him so strongly that he couldn't help but laugh along with him. When he thought about it, it was actually quite comical. A little girl had the big, bad vampire running scared. He decided that he definitely wasn't going to run away no matter how confused he might be. He had to face this thing head on before he could spend the rest of eternity being able to face himself in the mirror, and as long as he lived with Alice and Rose, he knew that the house would be covered in mirrors.

He had no idea what he would do when he saw her again, but he knew that he would have to do something. Running away was not an option anymore. He had tried to forget about her, but his own skin brought her to his thoughts. This was something he was going to have to deal with sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.

He found himself making a beeline for her house. When he reached the trees that bordered her yard he stopped short. He smelled her here strongly. She must be nearby. The sound of her fluttering heart came from somewhere behind the house. He made his way silently through the trees and found her lying on the green grass wrapped up in a worn paperback novel.

He saw that she was wearing a shirt that exposed the skin of her arms to the sun, and, once again, he saw the reminder that they were connected in some strange way to each other. The sun glowing on her skin was so much more beautiful than anything else he had ever seen. He very nearly walked out of the woods to touch it right then and there. He stopped himself when he noticed that she had actually fallen asleep lying there on the grass. It took everything he could manage not to rush to her side at once. He found that he wanted nothing more than to be close to her.

She rolled slightly in her sleep and sighed. He hoped that her dreams would be better than they had been last night. There were moments when he nearly woke her because she had begun to thrash around so violently. Several times she spoke of James and begged him to stop whatever it was he was doing. Every time she said that name, he felt the venom fill his mouth and saw red. He had no idea who this James was, but he was obviously not someone whom Bella was pleased to see in her dreams.

This afternoon, however, her sleep seemed relatively peaceful. She didn't speak at all. She just lay there breathing softly in the dimming light. He climbed into one of the trees bordering the yard and unknowingly watched as she dreamt wordlessly for the first time in months.

When she finally woke, the sun was sinking behind the horizon. She rose quickly and hurried into the house. Edward kept his perch in the tree since it afforded him a view through the windows of the kitchen. She appeared to be preparing dinner, and he watched fascinated. It had been a long time since he had seen anyone cook. From what he could see, she appeared to be quite skilled at it. The scent of the tomatoes she was stewing on the stove assaulted his nostrils. He stopped breathing for a moment.

He continued watching her as he grew accustomed to the scent of the food that was drifting out the window. As she was finishing up the pasta that accompanied the sauce, he heard a car pull into the driveway at the front of the house. Edward watched through the window and saw Charlie enter the front door, leaving his jacket and gun belt on the rack by the front door. Edward felt as if he were intruding, but still continued to watch as the two of them settled down to eat.

He watched them together and was surprised to see how much Charlie cared about his daughter. He could hear his thoughts faintly though he was difficult to read. What he did catch from him was full of concern about Bella's well being. He was worried that Bella wasn't fitting in at school.

_She's been through so much already. I wish she could just live a normal life here, get a fresh start. _

What he caught from Charlie's thoughts piqued his curiosity again. He felt like he needed to know what had happened to Bella. Apparently, not even Charlie knew the full story. Edward caught from his memories that she had been missing and was found again, but Charlie knew nothing about where she had been or what had happened to her while she was gone. As far as Charlie knew, Bella didn't even remember that time in her life.

_A month. How can she be missing a whole month and not remember anything?_

The more Edward found out about her, the less he felt like he really knew. And the more he wanted to know. Who was this creature? And what had she gone through to make her so different from the rest of her kind?

Edward continued watching as the two of them finished eating, and Bella headed upstairs to get ready for bed. He heard her go into the bathroom and the sound of water running. Edward moved from his location in the trees surrounding the backyard. He quickly moved to sit in the tree next to her bedroom window. She finished her nighttime ritual and climbed into the bed. Once or twice, he saw her look out the window, almost as if she sensed that there was someone outside looking in, but eventually she drifted off to sleep.

Edward climbed back into the window and settled into the same chair he spent the night in before. She breathed deeply when he entered the room, but her heartbeat remained steady. Once again, he fought the urge to go to her side, to touch her face as she slept.

-x-x-x-

Edward arrived home in time to change clothes and jump into the Volvo to drive his brothers and sisters to school. None of them said anything to him on the short drive, but he could feel the venom coming from Rosalie's thoughts.

_. . . going to get us all in a lot of trouble chasing around after that stupid human girl . . ._

Edward frowned and looked into the rearview mirror, glaring at Rose.

_I'm not moving again Edward. You'd better not do anything stupid!_

He gently shook his head to show her he had no intention of doing anything to endanger their presence here in Forks. He didn't think he could attack her if he wanted to. For one thing, she was faster than he was. She could probably out run him if she really needed to. Secondly, if he did anything to hurt her, he wouldn't have been able to live with himself.

When they arrived at the parking lot of Forks High School, he was pleased to see the old red pickup truck parked in the same spot it had been the day before yesterday. He saw that Bella was sitting in the cab of the truck, obviously waiting on something. He parked the car in their usual spot, and they all filed out and spread across the campus wordlessly. He heard the door of the pickup truck shut behind him, and her scent filled his nostrils as the wind blew it in from her direction. He breathed in, taking her deep into his lungs as he continued walking towards his first class of the day.

Edward saw Bella crossing campus towards English in the minds of at least a dozen students. She was still attracting a lot of attention from the other humans here. It wasn't very often that they had a new face to look at here in Forks. Most of these children had grown up together and been in the same school since kindergarten. Anything new got attention for quite sometime. When the Cullens had first begun attending Forks High School, they had been a topic of conversation for weeks. It was only because they were such loners that it died down that quickly. Bella was in for a much longer ride because she put herself among them on a daily basis.

He found that he wanted to protect her from the other students here. Some of their thoughts were a little less than friendly. Others were much too friendly. He wanted to strangle Mike Newton because of the lascivious daydreams he was getting up to as he entered the English classroom slightly behind Bella.

_Man, I can't wait until Saturday night. A dark movie theater. She's from a big city, so you know she's so much more experienced than the other girls here. Can't wait to see what she's like outside of school. I should take my van. Hopefully she needs a ride. _

Mike's thoughts began to drift to Bella lying down in the back of his van as he moved towards her on the blanket spread out on the metal floor. Edward had to break off here before he was forced to follow Mike into the classroom and promptly break his neck. Instead, he focused his attention on trying to make it to class without killing anyone the rest of the way there.

_Saturday night? She can't be already going out with Newton can she? That was fast. I guess he doesn't waste any time. _

When he entered his Math class, he found his usual seat in the back of the room and spread his notebook and pencil out in front of him. His mind left the room and found that of one of the students sitting next to Bella in English. He could hear the drone of the teacher at the front of the room, but thankfully the girl was mostly toning him out. The few times that the girl looked in Bella's direction he could see that her gaze looked far away like she was on another planet. Once or twice the girl made a comment about the class to Bella who just smiled and nodded.

_Where is she? Certainly not here. God, this is so frustrating. Why can't I just hear her thoughts? _

Edward sat stone still in his seat. If anyone had been paying him any attention in the room, they would have wanted to check to see if he were still breathing. He continued to follow her progress through out the day. Her reverie was only disturbed by the Math teacher asking her to solve a trigonometry equation. She quickly spouted the correct answer without much effort and returned to whatever daydream had held her enraptured all morning long.

He and his family arrived in the cafeteria, taking their usual places several minutes before he saw her enter with Jessica. When she entered, her golden eyes immediately snapped to find them as if magnetically drawn to their faces. He thought he saw her start to move in their direction, but she appeared to change her mind just as quickly as she had made it up in the first place. He saw her walk automatically to the seat she occupied on Monday next to Jessica, and the faraway look took residence upon her face once again. He sat staring at her, trying his best to fathom what her mind could have been up to. Her mouth was moving slightly, but no sound was coming out.

_Look at Edward Cullen staring. I wish he would look at me that way. Stupid Bella Swan. First she's got Mike Newton, now Edward Cullen. I swear it's not fair. Just because she's so new and shiny . . ._

Edward's attention diverted to Jessica's face. She frowned as she stared across the cafeteria at the place where Mike Newton sat wolfing down his lunch.

_My, God! What's going on around here Edward? It's like the jungle in spring with all these animals in heat._

Edward looked over to where Alice was sitting and grinned. She grabbed Jasper's hand as he sat next to her and gave it a quick squeeze.

_Can I talk to her now? Can I?_

Edward shook his head almost imperceptibly from side to side to indicate his disapproval of her idea and whispered, "Not now, Ally. Let me talk to her first."

_Oh, ok. You better tell me as soon as possible, because I'm not going to be able to wait too long. Oh, and by the way, you'd better skip Biology today. Mr. Banner has a blood typing lab planned for today. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go all "I vanna suck yer blud." on Bella today._

"You want to skip with me? I think we need to talk anyway. I'll meet you out in the car after lunch." This was their usual meeting place when something made skipping class a necessity.

"Okay, Edward," she replied.

Edward's eyes returned to their place on Bella's face, and suddenly, almost as if he had called her name aloud, her eyes turned to meet his. They sat locked in each other's stares for several minutes, and it was almost as if the world around them both ceased to exist, save the two of them. He felt an electrical current running between the two of them that held them locked in place, and he somehow knew that she would no longer be afraid of him and his family. However, there was still something behind her eyes that frightened him a little. A coldness in her stare that made her seem dangerous.

The world came back to him with a roar as Angela broke the hypnotic stare that Bella had on him.

"Bella, wake up! It's time to go to class. Where were you?" _She looked like she was dreaming with her eyes open. _

"Oh, nowhere just daydreaming," she replied quickly.

"Well we're gonna be late if we don't hurry." Bella rose, depositing the remains of her lunch in the trash can near the table.

"Sorry, Ang; let's go."

Edward watched as the two girls stood up and left the cafeteria together. He wanted to follow her, to stop her and make her listen to him now, but he didn't want to draw attention to the two of them. It would have to wait for a better time. He reluctantly got up and followed Alice from the cafeteria.

"Don't worry Edward, you'll get your chance soon. I promise."

He followed her to the parking lot, and they climbed into the car. He inserted the same CD he had been listening to the day before in the car's stereo, and their ears were filled with the sound of Beethoven being played on a piano.

"Why won't you believe me when I tell you it's going to be okay?" Alice asked him.

"You've been wrong before Alice." It was an excuse, and they both knew it. Edward was simply incapable of believing that anything was going to turn out well for him.

"Never about something as important as this, though," she frowned. "It hurts my feelings, and you're just delaying the inevitable. There's no use trying to deny fate, Edward. You can't run away from this. No matter what you decide, I still see the same outcome."

"And what outcome is this, pray tell sister?" He listened for her thoughts, and all he heard were the conjugations of the improper French verbs she was working on for her homework last night.

"I told you I would tell you when the time was right, Eddie. If you know now, you're just going to freak out and ruin things. You'll push this back so far that I won't get to talk to her until next year. Trust me, it's better if you don't know." She sounded certain of her decision.

"I guess I'll have to trust you then. Not that I want to, but I'm getting so tired of the stupid stuff you're thinking of to block me that I'm going to have to get in. If I have to hear you sing the Star Spangled Banner again, I'm going to run away screaming."

Alice giggled, but suddenly her face went blank, "Edward she's leaving class in a few minutes. You need to catch her; it'll be your last chance today."

He saw in her vision that Bella stood up from her seat and nearly ran from the room. He couldn't see her face, and there was no way for him to tell what chased her from the room. Rather than waste time sitting around trying to figure things out, he opened the door of the car and stepped out, waiting for Bella to make her exit. He saw from Mike's point of view at the front of the room that Bella raised her hand and asked to be excused. Almost immediately, she shot from the room and lowered herself onto the sidewalk, breathing heavily. Edward stopped himself from dashing to her side, and made his way at the quickest human speed possible to where she sat panting on the ground. Alice was only a few feet behind him when he came to a stop.

"Bella are you alright?" he asked as he was still running up to her. When she looked up at him, it froze him in his tracks.

_Oh my God, her eyes! _He heard Alice stop short behind him as she witnessed the same sight that had stopped him only a moment ago. Bella's eyes shone a brilliant crimson color, the same color as a newborn vampire's. He had never seen any living human with eyes that color. He felt the venom fill his mouth and fought back the instinct to attack. He heard Alice hiss quietly behind him.

"We need to talk. Is there somewhere we can go?" she said looking away.

"Just a minute."

_This is going to take awhile Eddie. You'd better give me the car keys so we don't have to all walk home. Be careful. _

Edward turned to face Bella, asking her to follow him. He made his way behind the school buildings to the forest beyond finding a secluded spot where he knew they would not be disturbed, before stopping and leaning against a tree in the forest. He stared her straight in her eyes that were now the color of a desert sunset and tried to compose himself for the coming conversation.

"You said you wanted to talk, so talk."

He stared at her as she turned to look at the pieces of sky that were peeking through the trees. He heard her as she took a sharp breath. "Why aren't I dead yet?"

It took every ounce of self control for his jaw not to drop as she asked this simple question. It held so much meaning for five such common little words. He tried to play dumb with his response.

"Why would I kill you?" Edward had to strain to hear her response even in the silence of the forest.

"I know what you are. Don't play games with me."

He felt the anger surge up in his chest at her answer. "And what is it that you think you know?" _She couldn't possibly know. She's just trying to get me to come out and admit to something. I wish I could know what she's really thinking._

"Everything about you gives you away. Your skin, it sparkles like diamonds. I spotted you from across the cafeteria, even here I can see it. The way you move so carefully, and I would recognize that smell anywhere. . ."

This was more than he could hide. He felt his mouth drop open at her words. She obviously knew more than he gave her credit for.

"Smell? You can smell me?" He stared at he, and she nodded slowly. He felt the venom flow into his mouth as he went on the defensive. "How?" his voice grew louder as he spoke. "Humans can only see our skin in the sunlight, and they definitely can't smell us." Edward began closing the distance between the two of them as he waited for her response. He came close enough to touch her before he asked the question that was plaguing his mind.

"What are you, because you're obviously not just another human girl?"

"I know you saw this." She pulled the cotton fabric of the shirt she wore up to her elbows exposing the scars and glittering skin hidden beneath. Even in this dim light his eyes were able to see what human eyes could not. He reached out aching to touch her, but was only able to hover a few inches above her arm in the darkness of the forest.

"What happened to you?"

"You can't tell?" She shot back, sharply.

"How many are there?" There were more scars than he could count immediately just on the inside of her arm.

"I lost count." She turned away quickly, and he was afraid he had angered her. His own anger was forgotten in his awe at Bella's skin.

"Those scars, they're bites aren't they?" he asked quietly.

He stared at the back of her head as he saw her slowly nod from the position she had taken a few feet away from him. He got the impression that she was about to cry. It hurt him to think that he was the cause of the tears that he imagined welling in the corners of her eyes.

"So that's how you knew. Will you tell me about it?"

"But you have to promise to answer my questions when I am done. Agreed?"

"Of course." For a moment, he stood captivated watching her move and knew that there was nothing he would keep from her if she asked him about it. He started to move towards the spot where she sat down. He felt drawn towards her like a moth to a flame. She quickly held up her hand to stop him from coming any closer.

"Stay there please. I don't know if I can handle you being close to me while I talk about this. It's still fresh in my mind."

He saw her look at the ground for a moment before plunging into her story. He listened without speaking as he heard her tell the tale of what happened to her during the month she had spent missing, and some of the pieces of the puzzle she had become to him. When she spoke of being bitten, only one question sprung to his mind.

"Why aren't you a vampire? What kept you from changing?"

"Oh, James was always careful to suck the venom out before he allowed the wounds to heal. He wanted to keep me as long as possible. He told me he planned to change me before he was done, but he never did."

"How did you get away? Did they just let you go?"

"No, James would never have let me get away alive. I watched him kill the one he held before me. I never even knew her name." He watched a Bella stared off into space for a moment, and quickly shook her head as if trying to clear something from her ears. "No, I was rescued I suppose. Until two days ago, I thought I was saved by an angel. Then I saw your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Their color. It's the same color as his were." She stared directly into his eyes, and this time it was his turn to look away from the intensity of her look. Once again, he found something there that frightened him just a little. "The others were red or black. When I saw you the first time, yours were black as well."

"They're only black when I am hungry. I hunted the night you found us in the woods."

"Hunted? There aren't any people in the woods are there?"

_She honestly believes I hunt humans and still came into the woods with me. _He looked at her in awe of the courage it must have taken to bring herself to this spot alone. "Animals."

"You can survive off animal blood?"

"Umm. . . the short answer is yes. We can survive, but it's hard."

"Oh, I see. . ." She looked up at him again, and he saw that the fear he had seen in her face at their first meeting was completely gone.

"You aren't afraid?"

"I should have been dead a long time ago. My number was up from the moment James laid eyes on me. I've been living on borrowed time anyway. So, no, I'm not afraid to die. There was a time not too long ago when I was wishing for it."

It broke Edward's heart to see the pain in her face as she made that statement, and it angered him that someone had been able to make her feel that way. He suddenly felt very protective of her and fought the urge to go and wrap her in his arms. He continued on with his questions because of a lack of any other option at the moment.

"Do you know who saved you?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me, but I guess you don't know either."

"Last night, you ran away from us so fast. I had a hard time catching up," he laughed. "Do you do that a lot?"

"Oh, I can run but only for a short distance. I get really tired after that. I had given up on running when you pushed me off the road."

"Can you do anything else?"

"Well, I can hear what other people are thinking, but only for humans apparently, because I can't hear anything from you or your family. And I'm stronger than I used to be. I broke the steering wheel on my truck the other night. . ."

"Wait a minute! You can hear thoughts?" _Oh my God, does she know what Mike Newton has been thinking?_

"Yes."

"But not mine?"

"No."

_Thank God. _"Wow, that's weird because I can't hear yours either."

"What? You can do that too?"

They continued their conversation for a few moments, taking turns asking and answering the questions that had been buzzing around both their brains for the past three days. As they talked he noticed her eyes were fading from their bright red back to the color of warm honey in the sunlight.

"So, I guess it's my turn. Your eyes? They've faded now, they're almost the same color as mine, but why were they red before?"

"I was hoping you would be able to tell me. I don't even know. I've been trying to understand for a long time now." He saw something in her eyes that made him think she might be trying to hide something from him, but just as quickly as the expression came upon her face it was gone.

"I think I need to take you to meet my father. He should be home by now. He can answer a lot more questions than I can."

He reached out to help her rise from her seat, and together, they walked from the forest to the parking lot of the school. When they neared the lot, he held out his hand, palm up. "I should drive."

"No, I don't think so. I can drive just fine. Thanks." He could read the look on her face, if he couldn't read her thoughts. _She doesn't want help from anyone, does she? _

"It's not that. I just . . . You'll get lost."

"I'll take my chances."

"Fine." Edward sighed. _Well, she's stubborn. I'll give her that much._

They drove through the gray, cloudy afternoon without speaking. So much had already been said that anything else seemed redundant. He had a million questions, but she had no answers to give him. She needed the same answers herself. When they reached a place where she needed to turn, he merely gave her the direction without comment. The drive was altogether too short in his mind. He was enjoying merely being in her company while she was conscious. When they pulled down the drive towards the house, Bella stifled a gasp at the sight of the beautiful white home that lay before her surrounded by a small lake of grass.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Thank you. We spend more time here than anywhere else. It's the only place we're really free to be ourselves. Our mother Esme likes for things to be as beautiful as possible."

"Your mother?" She looked at him, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Well, she's the closest thing to a mother that any of us have anyway. She keeps us in line … most of the time," he smiled.

She returned his smile, and, for the first time since he had seen her, she actually looked happy instead of resembling a person wearing the face of someone who was supposed to be happy. They pulled the red truck up next to the house, and as soon as he opened the door, he could hear the patter of Alice's feet on the floor of her room.

"I'm gonna get to meet her. I'm gonna get to meet her," she sang as she danced around the room.

Edward laughed, "My sister Alice is excited to meet you. She's been looking forward to this for days."

"How did she know?" Bella's eyes widened, and he could see the fear that she had barely been holding in check all afternoon.

"I didn't really tell you before, but Alice can see the future."

"What?" Bella stared at him incredulously. "She can see my future?"

"No, not really. She has a hard time seeing you. I guess it's easier since you're with me. She can see my future, even if she can't see yours."

"Oh," Bella hesitated a moment on the doorsteps.

"Are you nervous?"

"No, not exactly. I just . . . " She stopped in midsentence, shyly.

"What?"

"Well, I've been wondering about this for a long time. I'm a little bit afraid to hear the truth. You can't imagine the things that have crossed my mind in the past three months about what I have become. I have imagined some pretty horrible things, but what if it's even worse."

"What could be so awful?" He smiled at her.

"What if I'm a vampire? Or on the way to becoming one? I'm afraid I'll hurt someone I care about." She looked at the ground again.

He reached down and lifted her face up. "Trust me. You are not a vampire. I should know." _So I'm her worst nightmare. The worst possible outcome of this is that she becomes me? _His heart sank in his chest. The feeling of lightness that had overcome him since their conversation in the forest was gone in an instant.

_So, she trusts me. . . But . . . She doesn't want to be anything like me. I should have guessed. I am definitely going to have to stay away from her for my own good._

He could hear the sounds of feet thundering down the stairs in the house

_Edward Cullen! If you don't get her in this house this instant I'm going to come out there and rip your head off._

He looked at Bella. "Come on. We had better get inside before Alice kills someone." He took her hand to lead her into the house. She pulled her fingers from his grasp and followed him quietly into the door. His face fell, and he felt an emptiness in his chest that he hadn't known before.

_She can't stand my touch. Why am I even trying?_

Alice came bounding across the vast living room as they entered. "Hi Bella. I'm Alice. It's so good to finally meet you." Alice was grinning from ear to ear and nearly knocked Bella over as she tackled her with a hug.

Bella's eyes grew wide, but she stood firm as Alice came running into her with a force that would have knocked any normal person to the floor. When Alice let go of her and stood back, Bella couldn't help but return the smile.

"It's nice to meet you too Alice," she replied warmly.

"So I guess you're here to see Carlisle. He came home while we were at school today Edward. He's up in his study right now."

"Thanks, Alice," Edward smiled back at her for a moment, but his face returned to the same expression of sadness it had worn when he entered the room. _Here goes nothing. _ "Let's go, Bella. I'll show you the way."

He led her to the stairs on the far side of the room and allowed her to ascend them first.

"Carlisle's study is on the second floor." Edward followed slightly behind Bella until they reached the second floor. She waited for him to catch up, and they walked side by side down the hall to the first closed door they came to. Before he even knocked, he heard Carlisle's thoughts behind the door.

_Come on in Edward. We have a lot to talk about._

"He's waiting for us." Edward reached out and opened to door. Carlisle sat waiting behind the huge mahogany desk at the far side of the room.

"Hello, Bella. My name is Carlisle. Please sit down. I am afraid this might take awhile."

-x-x-x-

A/N: Dun, dun, dun…


	9. Revelations

Chapter 9: Revelations

-x-x-x-

Author's Notes: This chapter is the hardest one I have written thus far. It does contain the big reveal that everyone is waiting on. You will learn what Bella is, and what she can do (some of it anyway). You will also learn who saved her from James back in Phoenix. There is a lot going on in this one. Leave me a review and let me know what you think.

By the way Once Bitten, Twice Shy has been nominated for an Indie Twific Award in 2 categories: Best AU WIP & Most Original Story Line WIP. Voting opens up Wednesday, July 8th .

-x-x-x-

"You're so good at stretching the truth into a sugar coated lie

Everyone takes a bite

I have been dining with the enemy

It was a wolf in sheep's clothing, now it's so clear to me."

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, This Providence

-x-x-x-

Bella saw Edward's hand turn the door knob, but as she looked up to the face staring back at her on the other side of the mahogany desk the world around her became a blur. She heard a buzzing sound in her ears. She could tell his lips were moving, but nothing he said made its way to her brain. The room began to spin around her, and her knees buckled beneath her as the world went black.

_It's him. _

_Bella woke up on the floor of the room she had been confined in for the past three weeks to the sight of James's face inches above her own._

"_Good morning sunshine," he smiled at her menacingly. "I need your help with a little experiment."_

_James stood up and began pacing around the room slowly. Bella pushed herself up from the floor and stood opposite him. She waited a few minutes before speaking quietly._

"_What is it that you want me to do?"_

"_Well, I know all too well what you taste of my sweet. I have had the pleasure of that experience on multiple occasions." He walked towards her, slowly brushing the hair from her face with his right hand. "But you've never tasted me, now have you pet?"_

_Bella shook her head gently from side to side. "No, but it's okay. I don't deserve to know."_

"_Of course you don't, but I'd like to try it anyway. Now my skin is rather tough, so here is what we are going to do. I will use my teeth to make a cut, and you will drink up like a good little girl. Do you understand?" He looked at her expectantly._

"_What will it do to me?" She was as scared as she had ever been, during the entire ordeal. In all honesty, she would have preferred death to becoming one of them. _

"_I don't know. It might kill you; it might not. I guess we will have to find out won't we?" He laughed._

"_James please don't. I'll do anything else. Please. . ."_

_He held one hand over her mouth and smiled, "Tut, tut, now Bella, you might just like it. Let's give a try shall we?" _

_James brought his wrist to his mouth , and with a slashing motio,n he brushed the skin there against the razor-like teeth. The blood began to flow darkly down this arm, and he brought it to Bella's lips. She squirmed against him, trying futilely to escape. He laughed and pushed her lips against him._

_The cold blood hit her tongue with an electric shock, and instinctively, she grabbed his wrist pulling herself closer. The taste was ecstasy, the sweetest nectar that had ever been found on Earth. Her brain seemed to shut down, and instinct took over her body. She could feel herself pulling more and more of the precious fluid from his veins as the world grew more and more vivid around her._

_James tried to pull his arm away gently, but Bella held on with an iron grip. _

"_Time to stop precious. You've had enough."_

_The words hit her ears but did not register in her mind. He pulled with more strength, and still she held firm._

"_Now, Bella!"_

_She could feel the force with which he tried to remove his arm from her grasp. Finally, he pulled himself free and knocked her to the other side of the room with a swift kick. She felt her head crack against the wall as she came to a stop, and the world faded to black around her._

_Bella woke to the sound of voices in the room. She lay unmoving and listened to he heated conversation. A woman's voice was the first that she heard._

"_James you've got to end this now. He's here in the house now, and he's going to find her," the woman's voice pleaded. _

"_Victoria just go and stall him please, while I decide what to do with our little pet here."_

_Bella heard the door open and close. She lay as still as she could without holding her breath. Her eyes were closed, and she tracked James's progress throughout the room with her ears alone. She heard him quietly pacing on the wooden floor. After a few moments, his footsteps began to approach the location of her apparently unconscious body. He bent down, and she could feel his cold breath on her ear._

"_I know you're awake. You are a terrible actress." She could hear the smile in his voice. "But we will remedy that situation soon. Are you ready for a long night's sleep?"_

_Bella's eyes snapped open as she felt his teeth sink into the flesh of her shoulder. She fought against him and pushed him away from her for just a moment. It was long enough for her to stand and make her way across half of the room before he was able to catch up to her. James grabbed her arm, slinging her to the floor._

_She landed on a broken piece of wood that gouged painfully into her side. She felt the blood begin to flow across her stomach, and the pain went searing through her like a bolt of lightning._

"_Trying to escape your fate Bella? Your number was up the first time I saw you. There's no use trying to get away now."_

_James pulled her writhing body towards him and bent down to resume feeding from the wound he had made on her shoulder. Suddenly, she felt James's body wrenched away from her own. Bella rolled to her side and locked eyes with an angel._

Bella felt a cool damp cloth being brushed across her forehead. She gently opened her eyes blinking at the bright lights in the room around her. On the bed next to her sat a small, slender woman with the same glittering skin and golden eyes as Edward and the rest of the Cullens. Bella could read the expression of motherly concern on her face.

"Where am I?" Bella sat up on the bed.

"This is Alice's room. It was the closest to Carlisle's study. Edward carried you here when you fainted."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" She hated to be rude to the woman who had apparently been so kind.

"Oh, of course. I'm Esme. I suppose you would say I'm Edward's mother for all intents and purposes." She smiled warmly. "I've been watching over you while Edward and his father are speaking in the study. It took a while to get him to leave you."

"Edward was here?" She was surprised.

"Yes, he brought you here and refused to leave until I promised to care for you myself." Esme smiled with obvious affection for her son.

An awkward silence settled in the room. Esme finally stood and spoke. "Well, I suppose I should go let Carlisle know you are awake. Are you feeling alright? Can I get you anything?"

Bella took a quick survey of her body and answered, "Other than a little headache everything seems to be alright."

"Good. You wait here. I'll be right back." Esme stood and quickly exited the room. Before the door was able to close completely, Alice dashed in.

"You're awake. I'm glad. I wanted to talk to you without the rest of them listening in."

"Hi Alice," Bella answered weakly. Alice smiled back at her, and Bella felt her heart warming towards Alice immediately.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I came on a little strong before. I was just so happy to finally meet you. I've been waiting for awhile now. I wouldn't tell Edward I saw you coming because it would have scared him off, but I can promise you that this is going to be a good thing for all of us."

Bella turned her face to the ceiling. "I wish I could believe you," she whispered. She felt the cold touch of Alice's hand on hers, and his time she didn't pull away.

"Trust me."

"I don't know why I should, but I do. I'm sorry if I seem a little distant. It's just hard for me to be around all of you without running away screaming."

"What happened to you?" Alice's fingers trailed along the intricate network of scars that peeked from the sleeve of her shirt. Bella pulled her hand away quickly.

"I'd rather speak to Carlisle before I tell you, if that's alright."

"It's okay Bella. You don't have to talk right now, but I'm here whenever you are ready."

There was a gentle knock at the door, and both girls swiveled their heads around towards the source.

"It's Carlisle," Alice smiled.

"Come in," Bella answered quickly. She was anxious, and apprehensive, about seeing his face again. She steeled herself for the sight of him. Bella did not want to faint again. She pushed herself up into a more upright position and rested her head against the wall behind the bed. The door creaked open slowly, and Carlisle was revealed standing behind it.

"How are you feeling Bella?" he asked with a smile.

"Alright, I think, but both of us have some explaining to do. Don't we?"

Carlisle entered the room, followed almost immediately by Edward who stayed against the wall near the door staring at Bella. Alice stood from the bed and backed away.

"I should go now Bella." She turned to walk towards the door.

"No, stay Alice." Bella reached out to grab Alice's hand and stop her from leaving. Alice turned to face Bella.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Please sit down."

Alice returned to her seat next to Bella on the bed and turned to face Carlisle as he stood at the foot.

"Well should you begin or shall I?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't even know how to begin. I have a million questions, so I can't decide which one to ask first." Bella looked up at Carlisle with wide eyes.

"Well, I suppose I should begin then." Carlisle stood still as a statue as he spoke and just let the words come. She was slightly mesmerized by his voice, and the others in the room faded into the background as he wove his story. "I was in Phoenix visiting some old friends when I heard a rumor about a coven of vampires out in the desert that had been keeping a girl hostage in their coven house for over a month. According to my friend, she was not the first girl they had kept, but she had been there longer than any other. The stories of what she had been subjected to turned my stomach, so I decided to go and investigate for myself."

"When I arrived at the house, I was surprised to find that they were expecting me. Apparently word of my coming had arrived long before I did. A young female tried to stop me at the door, but I could smell a human in the house. I pushed past her and found you in the basement of the building with a vampire I've never seen before about to finish you off."

"When I pulled him off your body, he tried to fight me off. He gave me no other choice but to end his life right there. I had never seen a human being so drained of blood as you and still living. You had an open wound on your shoulder, so I sucked the venom from the wound before leaving the building with you. The rest of the coven fled while I was tending to you, and I burned the house down around the male to prevent them from gathering there again."

"I left you in the desert for the police to find, but I watched over you until someone arrived. I needed to make sure you were going to be alright. You were so weak that I didn't dare leave you alone."

Bella sat silently listening. The story he told she had quickly realized was her own. He wasn't telling her much more than she already knew. She stared at the ceiling and let her fingers wander along the quilt beneath her. She couldn't look at Carlisle's face as he spoke. She was afraid of another fainting fit. The room fell silent for a moment as Carlisle finished his story.

After a few deep breaths, Bella spoke, "I pretty much knew all of that already. I remember . . . umm, what happened. It doesn't explain much though. I mean, I'm glad you found me. I owe you my life right now, whatever is left of it anyway. What I really wanted to know about was what is happening to me. I'm sure it has something to do with James and what he did to me, but I don't know what or how."

"I think I may have an explanation for you, but first I have to ask you a few questions to make sure my suspicions are correct. Do you mind?" He came a little closer to the bed ask he spoke, his doctor's bedside manner becoming more obvious.

"No, I'll do whatever I have to. I need to know."

"Well, first do you have any other abilities other than speed? My sons informed me of how quickly you were able to run away from them the other day." He stood close to the bed, close enough to touch her, but kept his hands folded in front of him a safe distance away from her body.

"Yes, I do. I am able to hear other people's thoughts. I have been since I woke up in the hospital in Phoenix after you found me." Bella felt odd confiding this in Carlisle. She hadn't been able to tell anyone this, other than Edward, and it felt like she was exposing a huge secret. "My senses are all stronger now than they used to be. I can smell, see, hear, taste, and feel things much more strongly than I ever could before. Especially blood: vampire, human and animal. I have to stay away from it as much as possible, because my eyes turn red whenever the scent hits my nose."

"Anything else?"

"I used to be such a clutz. I would trip over my own feet walking across a flat surface, and now I don't even fall running flat out through the middle of the woods. In fact, if I actually do trip across something I normally break it before I fall. I can't tell you how many hairbrushes I have been through in the past three months." She laughed dryly and looked down at her hands, blushing. She was not used to sharing things about herself with other people, not even her parent, and here she was, exposing all her biggest secrets to someone who she would have considered an enemy up until a few hours ago. Ironic didn't even begin to cover it. "I even broke my steering wheel last night when my car broke down in the middle of nowhere."

"I can see that you were bitten by them more than once. Do you know how many times you were bitten?" His gaze fell to the arm that rested limply by her side.

"No, I lost count. I sat down once and tried to count the scars, but I stopped at fifty because it was just too hard to pick out the individual bite marks." She heard a sharp intake of breath from her side and turned to look at Alice. Bella had nearly forgotten she and Edward were even in the room.

"Bella, I'm sorry . . ."

"It's okay Alice. You didn't know." She felt the words nearly catch in her throat. It hurt to even think about that time. She knew why she had kept it all a secret. Being in a hospital to recover from her wounds was bad enough without having to spend the rest of her live in a padded cell, but she wondered why Carlisle hadn't informed his family of the incident. She looked over at Carlisle and asked, "Why didn't you tell them about finding me?"

"It didn't seem like my story to tell." Carlisle looked uncomfortably at the bed.

Bella could see the pain of memory on his face. His expression held constant for only a second before he turned to face her again. His eyes locked with hers, and she noted the compassion they held for her. It angered her whenever she saw that look in anyone's face. It was a part of the reason that she left Phoenix behind. Everyone in her neighborhood looked upon her with that same façade of pity on their face.

She fought hard to keep the anger from showing on her face. Her hands balled up into fists beside her on the bed, and her knuckles were white from the tension in her fingers. She had to remind herself that this was her one chance to get some answers to keep from doing something she might regret later. She noticed suddenly that everyone in the room was looking at her expectantly. Bella took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before speaking.

"Do you know what's wrong with me?" she asked softly looking at her hands to keep from seeing the expression on Carlisle's face again. There was no answer for a moment so she spoke louder this time. "Why am I this way? Why didn't I just die back there? God knows I was ready for it. I used to pray each morning when I woke up that today would be the day he would just end it all and finally kill me. Then you showed up and performed what felt like a miracle. I got out of there alive thanks to you, but here I am, a_ freak,_ not quite human and not quite vampire."

"Bella calm down," she heard Alice speaking softly beside her, and it seemed to calm her nerves a little. In fact, she was feeling much calmer as if under the influence of some drug. She put her face into her hands and rubbed her eyes. She almost felt as if she was going to sleep.

"Jasper, that's enough. You're going to knock her out if you don't lay off it a little." Alice spoke as if this Jasper were in the same room as them.

Bella almost felt like she was dreaming with her eyes open. "Who are you talking to Alice? There's no one else in the room with us."

"It's just Jasper. I guess you would say he's my husband. He heard you yelling, and he must have felt how worked up you were getting. What you're feeling is coming from him."

Bella felt the waves of emotion begin to slow. It seemed that she was more in control of her feelings now, and a small amount of her previous anger returned. It was just strong enough to keep her determined to get some answers, but too weak to cause her to do anything rash. She looked back at Carlisle expectantly.

"Well? What do you know?"

Carlisle walked from his position at the foot of the bed to stand beside Bella. Edward stood planted in the same spot his eyes fixed on Bella's face as Carlisle began to speak.

"Before I answer you, I have one more question to ask."

"Go ahead."

"Have you ever tasted vampire blood?"

The question sent a shock through Bella's mind. _How could he know? _She sat silently afraid to answer him for a second and merely nodded without speaking. She looked at Edward's face, and the shock that resided there said more to her than any words would ever say. He almost looked afraid of her.

"Bella, this is a lot for even me to take in. I am going to tell you everything I know. I have already shared what I have learned with Edward. Do you mind Alice hearing as well?"

Bella thought for a moment. "It really doesn't matter. I just need to know. It's been such a long time with no answers. Now that I know that it actually is something, you could yell it from the rooftops."

"I suppose I should start at the beginning. When Edward came home and told me about the day he met you, at first I thought he was exaggerating, but when I questioned him I saw the sincerity in his eyes. I have known my son for nearly a hundred years now, and I would know if he were lying to me. I have seen a lot of things in my three centuries here on Earth, but there was nothing that would fit the characteristics that he described to me."

"There was only one place I could think to go for an answer, the library of the Volturi, the leaders of our kind. I went to their stronghold in Volterra to do some research. I'm sure things would have moved much more quickly if I had asked one of their many historians for assistance, but I felt like this might be something I needed to keep to myself."

"After many hours of pouring through page after page, I found something that sounded exactly like what I was looking for. A young girl, taken by vampires in Roman times, managed to ingest a vampire's blood. I believe he was keeping her in much the same fashion that James was keeping you, and he fed her his own blood just to see what would happen. Two days later, she removed his head from his shoulders."

Carlisle looked at her, searching her face to gauge her reaction to his story. Bella felt almost numb, too startled to say anything. When she didn't speak, he began again.

"When the others came to stop her, she killed five of them before they could take her down. The Volturi tried some experiments with other humans, each one turned out the same. The blood had some strange effects on their bodies. Within a few days of ingestion, a transformation took place. They became strong, fast, and able to detect vampires in situations where a normal human could not. Each of their senses were heightened to nearly the same levels as ours. Strangely they all had various gifts. Some were telepaths, others could see the future, and still others were able to move objects using only their minds."

"Legends from nearly the beginning of recorded history had told of humans with vampiric gifts. Rumor held that they were a hybrid of vampire and human. A human who had not fully transformed into a vampire. The old people called them the Dhamphyri. A dhamphyr is driven to hunt and kill vampires, especially their creators."

The story that Carlisle wove was slowly beginning to sink into Bella's mind. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together. _Stupid James. He didn't know that he was creating his own death. If Carlisle hadn't gotten to me when he did, I might have been able to fight him off myself._

"So these dhamphyrs are they human or vampire?"

"Neither. They are vampire hunters, but they are so rare that most vampires have never even heard of them, much less seen one. They seem to be a hybrid between the two, but not fully one or the other."

Bella examined the scars at her wrist as he spoke. _Neither one nor the other. Some kind of a freak and forever marked as one. Can't just have one minute of normal can you Bella? _She looked at Edward, and was staring at her wide eyed with his back pressed against the wall as if any moment he expected her to spring from the bed and attack. When their eyes met, he quickly looked away. She thought he was disgusted.

She swung her legs around and dropped her feet to the floor at the edge of the bed. Carlisle moved back a step to give her room to stand. She pushed herself up and stood facing him.

"What happened to all those people these Volturi experimented with?"

"They all died . . ." His voice trailed off like there was something more he couldn't say.

"What are you hiding from me?" Bella was yelling again. She fought the urge to grab Carlisle and shake him.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" He questioned her.

"I have never wanted to hear anything more in my life."

"It might be too much right now. Considering . . ."

Bella cut him off in midsentence. "Too much! Trust me, nothing is too much for me to handle after what that bastard put me through. I need to know." Bella's eyes suddenly flared red again, and Carlisle backed away from her quickly his eyes wide with fear. She turned to face Alice whose stare had gone blank.

"Tell her Carlisle," Alice said in a monotone. "She'll hurt us all if you don't."

Bella returned her gaze to Carlisle who now stood as far as possible from Bella's tensed frame.

"Bella if you calm down, I will tell you whatever you want to know. Just sit on the bed for a moment." The door beside him burst open. Four other vampires stood on the other side poised as if ready to fight. Bella heard a hiss come from the blonde when their eyes locked. She lowered herself onto the bed, breathing heavily, and returned her eyes to Carlisle's.

"Go ahead," she said through her gritted teeth.

"Bella, all those humans died, but when they did their transformation became complete. They all turned into vampires."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Bella was on her feet. She flew from the room, knocking the four vampires standing in the doorway to the floor in her haste. Before they knew what was going on, she was down the stairs and out the glass doors at the back of the house.

-x-x-x-


	10. It Doesn't Matter

Chapter 10: It Doesn't Matter

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I hit an evil bout of writer's block that was aided and abetted by my husband and children, but I think I have worked through it. This chapter is from Edward's POV.

-x-x-x-

"It doesn't matter what I want  
It doesn't matter what I need  
It doesn't matter if I cry  
Don't matter if I bleed  
You've been on a road  
Don't know where it goes or where it leads"

-_It Doesn't Matter, _Alison Krauss and Union Station

-x-x-x-

Edward watched, his eyes wide with shock, as Bella flew from Alice's bedroom. He started after her, but felt a hand on his arm stopping him from progressing any further.

"Let her go," Carlisle spoke softly. Edward looked up and met his gaze. He felt a sudden flare of anger at his father for the secrets he had kept from them all. He felt his hand clench at his sides.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Edward spoke quietly trying to mask his feelings. He felt more than a little ashamed at being so angry with his father. Carlisle had never been the type to keep secrets from his family, so there must have been a good reason for it, but Edward couldn't help but feel like he had been lied to. He searched for the answer to his question in Carlisle's honeyed eyes and found them full of sorrow and regret.

Carlisle looked down at the floor and dropped his hands to his side. He didn't answer Edward for a moment. The rest of the Cullens sat in silence as if waiting for his answer as well. Carlisle took a deep breath before speaking.

"I really don't know what to tell you Edward." Carlisle's eyes came back to Edward's face. "I just couldn't . . ."

"Why didn't I know?"

"I tried hard not to think of it near you." Edward caught a glimpse of Bella in Carlisle's memories. The entire time Carlisle had been speaking to Bella he had the most horrific pictures running through his thoughts. It horrified Edward to see Bella so drained and weakened. The anger he now felt was only a shadow of the rage that had surged through his veins at the sight of James feeding on Bella's limp body in Carlisle's memories.

"She wasn't the first girl I found that way," Carlisle continued. "The Volturi were famous for keeping pets. Trust me, they wouldn't have cared if they found her as long as he killed her or changed her when he was done." Edward saw the frightened face of a young girl lying on a stone floor. "It was part of the reason I left them. To most vampires humans are nothing more than cattle to feed upon. I wanted to keep that from all of you."

"When I found her there that way, it brought back some very bad memories." Carlisle shook his head to clear the flood of sorrow that filled his thoughts.

Edward suddenly regretted the anger that he felt towards his father. He understood that Carlisle had only been trying to protect all of them from the things he had seen. Edward knew far better than any of them the things that Carlisle had been through during his more than three hundred year existence. More than once he had caught Carlisle in an off moment and seen some things that he wished he hadn't.

He looked around the room at his siblings' stunned faces. The only one of them who didn't look like they had seen a ghost was Alice. She sat composed on the bed where she had been during the entire conversation between Bella and Carlisle. He saw her smile slightly before she stood up and walked out of the room. He heard her voice from the hall.

"Everything's going to be fine. You should just go on like nothing happened."

_Go on like nothing happened? How in the hell am I supposed to do that? _Edward followed her out of the room paying no heed to the rest of his family in the doorway to Alice's room. He heard them talking quietly as he made his way down the stairs, but he tuned out their thoughts. She walked down the stairs towards the back door that Bella had left open in her haste to escape the house, and he caught her hand as she was halfway out the door.

"Alice," Edward hissed. "What's going on?"

"Can't you just trust me?" She turned to face him with a frown on her tiny face. "You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I want what's best for everyone here. If I tell you, you're just going to ruin everything. The outcome is the same no matter what, but the situations are completely different."

"What is it that you see?"

"Weren't you listening, Edward?" Alice stared at him as he thought about the conversation upstairs. After a few minutes Alice groaned, "Bella, Edward. She's going to be a vampire either sooner or later. No matter what we do it's going to happen."

"You know that's the last thing she wants Alice. You saw how she reacted when Carlisle told her." _She knows what kind of monsters we are._

"I saw, but I know that this outcome is inevitable. One day she is going to die and become one of us. I see two possibilities though. Either she changes with us there to help her, or she does it alone and afraid."

Edward thought about the two options. One was infinitely preferable to the other. He looked back at his sister and heard nothing but Latin coming back at him.

"There's still something you're not telling me."

"I have my reasons," she smiled. "Trust me please?"

"I suppose I'll have to." Edward sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you know where she went?"

"She went home Edward. She's not going anywhere now, but I think she needs some time for all of this to sink in. Just give her some space. She'll be back at school tomorrow too I think. God I hate this! She's so hard to see. It's giving me a headache." Alice reached up with her left hand and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry, sis." Edward put his arm around her and rubbed her back a little. "Why don't you go upstairs and rest for awhile?"

"Because my room is full of vampires Edward."

"Oh, I forgot," Edward laughed. "You could always use my room."

"I think you're going to be in there for awhile. You have some thinking to do, don't you?" She smiled. "Besides, I could use a good long walk down by the river. See you in a little while." Alice turned and walked out the open door, closing it gently behind her.

Edward could hear the confused thoughts of his family on the floor above him. They mostly centered around Bella's hasty disappearance a few minutes ago. He could hear that Carlisle was explaining the situation as well as he could to them. He decided that he would rather not see any of them right now. There were too many unanswered questions floating around in their thoughts that he wasn't sure he could answer himself. He left the house the same way Alice had only seconds ago and swiftly made his way to the patch of grass below his own window, scrambling up the wall and into the room almost silently.

He made his way over to the stereo and rifled through the stack of CDs he had left lying next to the speaker. He chose one of his favorites, a mix of several composers, and slid it into the slot at the front of the machine. He sank to the floor and closed his eyes, allowing the music to sink into his thoughts. He could feel the jumble of feelings and ideas begin to organize themselves into something coherent as the music wove its pattern of melody and rhythm into his mind. He sat still as a statue for what would have seemed like an eternity to any normal human being, not moving, barely even breathing.

A thousand questions swirled in his mind, and he carefully considered all their implications. For nearly ninety years he had run at the slightest sign of danger, and here was this girl who could end life as he and his family knew it. Why was this situation different? Why did the thought of leaving Forks leave him with a gaping hole in his chest?

_Bella._

The thought of Bella brought her face to his mind, and he felt a wrenching in his chest. This hybrid girl had such an unmistakable power over him and his entire existence. And suddenly it hit him like a speeding van barreling down the highway at sixty miles an hour.

_I love her._

The sun had long ago set, and his family had dispersed themselves throughout the house to go about with their nightly routines. The sky outside his window was lit with a million tiny points of light, and when Edward finally opened his eyes, he sat staring at the stars as he had done thousands of times before. Thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-four nights had passed since his transformation and rebirth as a vampire, but never before had the world seemed so alive to him since he had made one decision.

_It doesn't matter._

_It doesn't matter what she is. All I know is my world has been turned upside down since she entered it. Three days. Three tiny little days in the myriad of days that I have known, and those three days are more important to me than the thousands that have preceeded it. _

He had thought on the situation for hours and weighed all the options. She was destined to become a vampire, whether she liked it or not. She was for all intents and purposes his mortal enemy. The one being he knew was capable of destroying him and his entire family. Honestly, he should be the one running away. What he had gathered from Carlisle's thoughts indicated that there was a lot he wasn't telling Bella. The dhamphyri had been a powerful enemy of the Volturi at one point, after they had turned on their makers. It had taken all the strength they could muster and every vampire that they could summon to destroy the tiny band of vampire hunters they had themselves created. The battle between them had been long and hard fought, and no one had documented the existence of a dhamphyr since that time. For all he knew, Bella was the first in well over a thousand years.

But it didn't matter.

Nothing really mattered in comparison to the fact that he was absolutely and utterly in love with her. He knew it sounded crazy. He could scarcely believe it himself. He hadn't even realized his own feelings until he had taken the time to sit down and think about it.

Now, what to do about it? He seriously doubted that Bella was just going to plop down next to him in Biology tomorrow and act like any normal teenage girl. She was far from that anyway, but after what had happened and the news she had just received things were going to be difficult for awhile.

And once again, it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered to him except the feeling that everything in the world would fall into place if he was simply near Bella, and nothing would be right if he wasn't. All the other issues would work themselves out in time, and if there was anything Edward had it was time.

He quickly stood up from the spot he had been sitting in and made his way back out the window. He knew there was only on place on Earth he wanted to go. Edward made his way through the trees by instinct, moving swiftly through the cool night air. He could feel the branches brushing past his body as he ran. The world seemed lit as though from inside.

He stopped short at the edge of the woods near Bella's house listening carefully for the sounds of movement inside. He heard nothing but the sounds of quiet breathing coming from the second floor rooms of the tiny house. A sense of relief washed over him when he recognized the sound of the heart coming from just inside the window overlooking the street. He felt a sense of relief wash over his whole body.

_At least she's not running any more. Don't push her too hard. I don't think she's quite ready for this yet. _

Despite his own warning to himself, he found his feet moving of their own free will towards the house. His limbs had developed a mind of their own and quickly guided him up onto the roof outside the small window pushing up the sash and jumping like a jungle cat onto the carpet. He looked over to find her softly breathing form curled into a ball on the bed at the center of the room. He settled himself into his now accustomed place in the rocking chair at the corner of the room and proceeded to keep what was quicklymbecoming his nightly vigil.

-x-x-x-

Edward sat expectantly in his seat in the cafeteria. He had seen Bella's face in the minds of so many of his fellow students this morning but not with his own eyes. His golden irises bounced from one face to another as each of the students of Forks High School entered the cafeteria both singly and in groups until they finally found the one face they had been looking for since Edward had entered the room. His eyes caught hers for a moment, and she quickly looked away blushing.

_Oh God, that has got to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. _

He watched as the blood slowly drained from each individual blood vessel beneath the pale white skin of her cheek from across the cafeteria. He couldn't remember ever being mesmerized by any human being before now, especially not in this manner. He heard a little giggle from down the table, and turned to see Alice grinning back at him.

_Told you so . . ._

_Take it easy though. If you push her too hard she's just going to run away again. Give her some time no matter what she does today._

He looked at her and scrunched up his face questioningly for a moment.

_No way; not telling. It's going to be a surprise. Just remember, things will work out if you give them time. Don't give up . . ._

Alice smiled again, stood up and nearly danced across the cafeteria to deposit the contents of her untouched lunch tray in the trash can. She gracefully made her way back to the table and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, you're going to be late for class." _You should get there before she does; besides, I want to talk to you alone._

"Alright, Alice." Edward stood slowly, saying goodbye to the Cullens remaining at the table, and allowed Alice to drag him from the cafeteria. She stopped halfway across the courtyard and sank down onto a bench, motioning for him to join her. He did so a little reluctantly.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, Jesus, Edward. Don't play stupid with me. You know what. So, how long did it take you to realize you're in love with her?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're nosey, Alice Cullen?"

"Yes, on a semi-regular basis for approximately the last century. So, how long?" Alice grabbed his arm, her eyes sparkling and searching his for the answer to her question.

"It's not gonna be that easy. You're keeping secrets from me, so I don't exactly feel like being forthcoming." Edward nonchalantly examined the skin around his fingernails as he spoke.

Alice growled at him quietly. "Fine then, Mr. Cullen. You have your secrets, and I have mine. But I can see that you've made up your mind now no matter what happens anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter what I tell you."

"Well?" He looked at her questioningly.

"She's dangerous, Edward."

"I know that, Alice. Tell me something I don't know."

"She's more dangerous to you than any of the rest of us." He saw a picture of his body torn to shreds on the forest floor. "Don't push her . . ."

"Alice, why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Because you would have left her alone, but she's not really going to kill you. It's just something that could have happened a few days ago in the forest. It only flashed through her mind for a second, and only then as a last resort. She would actually rather die herself than kill anyone, but she would kill to protect the people she loves."

Students were starting to flood out of the cafeteria, and Edward looked down at his watch. There were only three minutes left until the next class began. He stood from the bench and began to walk at a human pace towards the building where Biology classes were held. He heard Alice rise a few moments later.

_Be safe . . ._

He nodded imperceptibly and continued on his path towards class. When he arrived in the room, he sank slowly into his seat, his mind buzzing with the news he had just received. Things were going to be more difficult than he had planned. He only had a few seconds to prepare himself before Bella walked into the room. He glanced at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the top of the desk in front of him. She found her seat next to him sliding the chair as far from him as possible. The rest of the hour was passed in an uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Neither of them volunteered an answer to any of Mr. Banner's questions. When the bell rang, he followed her progress towards the gym in the mind of a few of the students milling around the courtyard before making his way to the next class on his schedule.

-x-x-x-

The next day passed in much the same way. Bella seemed determined that if she pretended Edward didn't exist then he would simply disappear, but he couldn't stop himself from staring when he knew she wasn't looking. She had simply become the most fascinating thing he had ever encountered, partially because of the danger she posed to his very existence.

His family was giving him a wide berth, except for Alice of course. He could tell from their thoughts that none of them were exactly sure what to think of Bella. Most of them were actually afraid of what she was capable of. After Carlisle had explained the situation to them, they had decided to give Bella some space and allow her to make her own decision about the situation. Edward wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he had reluctantly agreed in order to keep the peace.

However, he couldn't stop himself from watching Bella's movements around the school during the day. He tracked her in the thoughts of her classmates as she made her way through each class. It was Friday, and most of the students were abuzz with their plans for the weekend. Apparently, a group of students headed up by Mike Newton were headed to a movie tomorrow night in Port Angeles. Edward had gathered from the thoughts of those involved that Bella was to join the group. He found himself making excuses to be in Port Angeles on Saturday and shook his head to clear it of the ridiculous thoughts.

_Just leave her alone. You're probably the last person she wants to see this weekend._

Edward felt as if he needed to know where he stood in this situation. It confounded him to no end that he couldn't simply hear her thoughts to determine her feelings for him. If he judged only from her behavior, he would have believed that she would have preferred it if he simply disappeared from the face of the Earth, but she still came and sat next to him in Biology each day. She didn't try again to have her seat changed, and he felt like this was a positive sign. At least she could stomach his presence.

He looked over at her as she sat hunched over her notes, writing furiously, and noticed the way her hair fell across her shoulders, the brown curls suspended in midair over their shared table. He resisted the urge to reach out and brush the hair back from around her face. She looked up, catching his eyes, and they sat there for a moment. For the first time in days, she didn't look away. Edward felt his breath catch in his throat at the intensity of her stare, not harsh, but searching.

There seemed to be a question in her eyes that only he could answer, but, before the air could return to his lungs and allow him to speak, she looked down again. A few minutes later the bell rang, and she was gone.

-x-x-x-


	11. Friends

Chapter 11: Friends . . .

Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to SMeyer. I just like to play in her sandbox from time to time.

This chapter has been influenced by the delirium produced from the 105 degree fever I was running earlier this week (damn flu). Hope you enjoy!

Oh and just as a warning, Mike does let his mind run away with him for brief spell here, and it might be inappropriate for some of the kiddies! (nothing too bad, just a little nauseating, lol) Sorry kids this story writes itself. I just happen to own the hands that it's using to type.

BPOV  
******************

Looking nervously around her, Bella walked into the movie theater. She had driven herself to Port Angeles refusing to take a ride from any of the others who were accompanying Mike but settling instead on accepting their directions on how to get to Port Angeles and find the movie theater. Her plans for the evening had been thwarted. Her purpose for arriving alone was to surprise Mike with a "date" in order to forever end his tedious daydreams about Bella in a variety of compromising positions, but, despite her furious attempts to flirt with him, Jacob had other plans for the night.

She arrived at the theater early hoping to come up with some other plan before the rest of them arrived. Sitting on a bench at the edge of the large lobby Bella rested her face in her hands to try to clear her brain. The noise in the room around her was deafening not in the least because there were so many new people to block out of her head. She had grown accustomed to the daily thoughts of her schoolmates in the last week, and it had become a simple thing to block most of what they were thinking.

However, she hadn't been able to block the worst of Mike's daydreams from her mind. Since she had agreed to join him on this little outing, he had allowed his thoughts to run rampant with her naked body being the center of attention for most of them. She had very nearly changed her mind when she couldn't talk Jacob into joining her, but decided that she would be safe as long as they were part of a group. She knew that Lauren and Jessica, as well as Eric and Tyler, would be joining them here tonight. Most of them were going to catch a ride with Tyler in his van.

Bella didn't see any of the others in the theater yet. Looking at the clock on the wall she realized there was an hour before the movie they had chosen was going to start, so she breathed in deeply. A familiar scent caught her attention, and she wheeled her head about looking for its source. All the bodies around her were obviously human, but the smell was unmistakable. Somewhere inside this theater was a vampire. Bella stood up to get a better view of the lobby. Her heart quickened, and her muscles tensed as she unconsciously prepared to deal with the situation. She could sense her vision starting to become red around the edges and made a beeline for the ladies room.

She stood in front of the mirror noting the tendrils of crimson beginning to stain the normal honey color of her eyes and tried to calm herself.

_Not the place or time for this Bella! Get it together. _

Bella rolled up her shirt sleeves before she splashed her face with water closing her eyes and took in a few deep breaths.

_Ok, it's a busy movie theater. Maybe one of them was here recently, or there are other vampires around here. Don't freak out. _

Bella stood up straight and grabbed a paper towel to dry her face off. She turned to toss it into the trash and came back to the mirror straightening out her clothes. She pulled her black shirt down over the waist of her jeans and unrolled her sleeves to recover her arms. After checking her reflection once more to make sure there were no more incriminating signs she pushed open the bathroom door and re-entered the lobby of the theater.

Once again the scent hit her nostrils, but she bit her lip to avoid a similar reaction. She quickly surveyed the population of the theater. No telltale sparkles showed on any of the passing faces, so she calmed herself. She lowered herself onto the nearest bench and steeled her nerves again for the coming evening. She had already decided to try to stick Jessica and Mike together as much as possible. She knew from the brain behind those curls that it wouldn't be difficult. Jessica would take any opportunity she was given to be close to Mike. On more than one occasion she had enabled Bella to escape Mike's unwelcome attention. Since she would definitely be coming tonight Bella thought she ought to be able to relax and actually enjoy a movie for the first time in a long time.

She looked up and finally saw Mike and the others entering the room, but before she could make her way across the crowded lobby to where they were waiting she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

"It's just me." Bella recognized Edward Cullen's voice immediately and felt herself stiffen once again. She turned quickly to face him.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed through clenched teeth. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, and she felt the blood rushing to her face.

"Just thought you might need a little . . . company." He smiled, and it infuriated her.

"I don't need anything Edward. Go home."

"Do you hear what Mike is thinking? He hasn't seen you yet, but . . . just listen to him." Edward frowned.

Bella turned to where the other Forks High students stood and tried to focus in on the thoughts coming from their small group. At first all she could hear was a buzz of sound, but she took a few deep breaths and focused in on Mike's face. His voice grew clear in her mind and stood out above the maelstrom of sound in the crowded lobby.

_I think Tyler will drive me back over her to pick up my car in the morning. God knows, he owes me more than one favor for not telling his parents about that fender bender back in the school parking lot. Just hope no one saw me disconnecting the battery cables when we got here. I parked pretty far away from Tyler just in case, so it shouldn't be a problem._

_Now, Bella . . . Where is Bella? How am I going to get her to stay behind, so she can give me a ride home when my car won't start._

Bella saw herself in his mind laid out on the front seat of her truck. Her clothes strewn about the floor and draped over the steering wheel as Mike's hands ran up and down the length of her body. Her pale skin prickled at his touch, and she moaned quietly. He let his fingers trail even lower until they reached to waist of her panties. He hooked one finger over the lace edge and pulled them deftly down. His fingers returned to the skin there as he tested her . . .

Bella shook her head and turned to face Edward trying to block the image. Once her mind had linked with his it was difficult to sever the connection, and she had seen much more than she ever wanted to.

"Thanks for the warning, but I can take care of myself." She shot him a sarcastic smile and turned to make her way towards the group waiting for her. She felt his hand on her shoulder again stopping her from moving. She turned to look at him again, and the look on his face took her breath for a moment. He stared into her eyes, and she was mesmerized.

"Bella, you shouldn't have to do this alone, and a good friend wouldn't let you. You're right. You _can_ handle this, but if I'm here with you there won't be anything _to _handle. Listen, I promise not to bite." He smiled, his teeth brilliant in the artificial lights of the theater. Bella felt herself recoil slightly. She recalled all too well what those teeth were capable of.

Edward's face fell when he saw her response to his smile. "I'm sorry, Bella. I just wanted to help." He dropped his hand to his side and turned to leave. Bella felt her heart sink into her stomach as he began to walk away. She had grown used to his presence during the last few days. The revulsion she used to feel towards him was slowly turning to comfort.

When she had left the Cullen's house in such a hurry, her first instinct had been to run away again. To get as far away from Charlie and her mother as she could. She didn't think there was any way she could hide from the vampires now. But when she got home and slowed down long enough to think, she changed her mind.

This family was obviously different than the vampires she had met in Arizona. There eyes were only the most minor difference. The way they interacted was so different. The coven in Phoenix operated more like a pack of animals than anything else. James was only the leader through use of brute force. If any of the others stepped out of line, he wouldn't hesitate to rip them to shreds. He kept them reigned in through strength and fear.

The Cullens appeared to genuinely care about each other. Carlisle definitely wasn't even the strongest member of the family. The largest of the young males would have easily taken him down. She had watched the Cullen's at lunch, and they acted more like siblings than coven members. They were friendly, sometimes even playful, with each other, and she was intrigued by this family.

When a couple of days had passed, and no one came after her, she stopped worrying. She would have been too tempting a target for the average vampire. Bella had tested her strength out one afternoon while Charlie was still at work. After she had managed to uproot a small tree in the woods next to the house, she was convinced that everything Carlisle had told her was true. She didn't know if she was ready to deal with all that implied about her future, but she did know that it meant if any of them came after her she would be more than able to deal with them.

She considered her options carefully and decided that she would rather not do this alone.

"Wait," she called after him.

He turned, his face apprehensive.

"Stay. You're here already. And you're right, if you're with me Mike won't try anything stupid. I rather not have to explain how I broke his nose or his neck if he went too far." She smiled at him, and his expression lightened. Bella looked down at her hands and examined her fingernails. "I think we kind of got off to a rough start, didn't we?"

Edward raised his eyebrows, "I suppose you could say that."

"Well, I was hoping we could . . . be . . . well, friends I guess." Bella looked at the floor as she spoke.

"Friends?" she could hear the question that he didn't ask her in his tone.

"Friends . . ." she said. "I don't think I have too many of those around here right now." Bella gestured behind her as she spoke. She looked up into his face surprised to see a smile there.

"Okay, Bella. Friends it is then. Are you ready?" He had a questioning look in his beautiful eyes.

Bella laughed uncomfortably. "Ready as I'll ever be I guess."

They turned together, and she felt his hand on the small of her back. Somehow, he seemed less of an enemy than the group of human teenagers they were walking towards. She certainly had more in common with him than with them. She could see Mike Newton looking at his watch.

_Where is she? She better get here soon, or I'm gonna be stuck with Jessica all night. _

He tapped his foot for a moment before he looked up. When he saw Bella coming towards them, a smile lit up his face, but it only took a few seconds for him to register that someone else was with her. When she saw the face register in his mind, his jaw nearly hit his chest.

_Fucking Edward Cullen! I am going to murder him in his sleep if they're here together. _

Bella stifled a giggle at the thought of Mike Newton even trying to murder anyone, especially a vampire who never slept, but the memory it triggered caused her face to crumple like a piece of paper someone had tossed into the trash.

_Icy cold fingers brushed down her cheek. She felt the cold air of his breath stirring the hair that hung limp around her ear. _

"_I never sleep . . . never . . ."_

Bella shuddered and stopped dead in her tracks. She felt a cold hand on her back and whirled around to find the source bringing her nearly face to face with Edward. She looked him dead in the eyes, and it was the one thing that stopped her from running. His eyes. The deep honey color of them flecked with something lighter like gold. So different from the eyes in her memories.

It took a moment for the rest of their surroundings to come back into focus. For a moment, all she could see was him. When she realized where they were, she quickly spun around to face their group. They all stood agape staring at her waiting for another reaction.

She could feel the blush rushing to her cheeks. What had she given away in her response to a memory? She quickly scanned the thoughts of those around her. Most of them thought she was nervous. All she could read from Mike were flares of jealousy that he could hardly contain behind his eyes. Even if she hadn't been a mind reader, she would have been able to see how much he despised Edward Cullen right now.

All of them thought that the two were on their first date, and Bella wasn't really certain how she felt about that. Part of her felt that way too, and part of her felt like getting as far away from Edward Cullen as possible. As long as she wasn't confronted with the day in day out reality of vampires, Bella could pretend that she was a pretty normal teenager. He reminded her of everything that she had gone through with each word he spoke, with each breath he took, every move he made. He was everything that she had tried to run away from, and he was the future that she was dreading with every fiber of her being. She could feel her heart start to speed up in her chest, and the buzz of thoughts swirling around in her brain was starting to make her feel lightheaded.

Suddenly she felt something cold brush against her hand, and the entire world ground to a halt around her. Her heart felt as if it would stop as an electric shock traveled up her arm and spread around her entire body. She could feel the hair on her neck and arms standing on end. When she looked down to see what had caused time to stop she saw Edward's hand mere millimeters from her own. After she regained feeling in her legs, Bella began walking toward their schoolmates again plastering a fake smile on her face.

Her friends were extremely confused at the little scene they had just witnessed, but most of them chalked it up to Bella being nervous about being on a date with Edward Cullen. Jessica remembered a time when she had tripped and fallen flat on her face when Edward looked at her from across the cafeteria. She had dropped an entire tray of food and nearly fallen face first into her macaroni and cheese.

Bella had to hold her breath to keep from laughing and wound up letting out a snort as they approached the group.

"Nice one, Bella." Lauren snickered.

"Sorry guys, umm. . . Hi?" Bella stammered.

"Hi, Bella." Jessica smiled a little too brightly. _Edward Cullen? You must be kidding me! First Mike and now Edward. What next? Zac Efron? Oh I know! Maybe Joe Jonas. I mean seriously. It's BELLA for screaming out loud. What do they see in her . . ._

Edward's hand brushed against Bella's once again, and Jessica's voice left her thoughts suddenly. In fact, as soon as his skin touched hers she was able to block everyone in the entire room. For the first time in months there was true silence inside her head. She let her fingers brush against his for a few moments longer before moving her hand a couple of inches away.

Bella looked at Mike's crushed expression. She smiled at him reassuringly feeling guilty about destroying his feelings so completely.

"Hi, Mike. I hope you don't mind that I invited Edward to join us. I didn't think it would be a big deal since everyone else was going."

"No, that's cool," he mumbled something under his breath. "You guys ready to head into the theater; I think the movie's about to start." He turned to address the entire group averting his gaze from Edward who until this point had remained silent. Edward leaned to whisper to Bella.

"I think he's a little jealous. He's looking a little green around the gills." She could hear the smile in his voice. His icy breath on her neck sent a shiver down her body.

"That's okay. Jessica is about to eat her heart out . . . I never knew you were so popular Edward. What's that thing she was thinking earlier about you and her in the woods behind the gym?" she whispered back jokingly.

"Now wait a minute Bella. I . . . we . . . she . . ." he stammered for a minute at a loss for words.

Bella giggled. "I know it's all in her mind, Edward. I don't think you've spoken more than a dozen words to her since you met. At least not that she can remember."

"That's not fair Bella. You can't use other people's thoughts against me."

"Watch me," she jogged a little ahead to catch up to the others, and he quickly joined her.

They followed the group into the darkened theater.

************

End Notes: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it's taking me awhile to crank out some of the chapters. Please forgive me because I have a lot on my plate right now.

I am actually looking for a partner to work on this story with me. I don't need much help with grammar other than someone to give my work a once over for any typos, but I do need someone to bounce ideas off of and to give suggestions about characterization and plot. If you're interested in working with me send me a message. I'd love to have someone who is working on a story themselves, so I can return the favor. Helping you work actually inspires me.

To the readers, I have a quick poll for you. . .

Which bad guy(s) would you rather see in this story? I have two possible outlines: one involving Victoria and one involving the Volturi. Leave me a review and let me know which outcome you would prefer. I haven't decided which one to use yet, but the turning point is approaching quickly, so now is the time for a decision.


	12. More Than Friends

Chapter 12: More Than Friends

A/N: I just got back from the movies with the DH, so I am a little more inspired to write this chapter than I was. Of course I saw possibly the stupidest movie ever so that stifled me a little. In case you were wondering it was _Inglourious Basterds_, and I do NOT recommend it.

By the way, I just started reading a new fic, and I am obsessed. It's _Clipped Wings and Inked Armor_ by hunterhunting, and I think for right now it's only on FF. I intend to suggest to its author that she submit it to Twilighted for validation. It is quite possibly the sexiest thing I have ever read, and I DO recommend that.

The vote for who the villain should be is basically a tie. I have a plan to deal with that, but you'll have to wait and see!

And finally I would like to thanks Navarre and SweetKay over on the Twilight Lexicon Discussion Forums for all the recommendations. Thanks for adding me to your new C2! I must say I am touched to be included with so many other GREAT authors on your list, and hopefully it will help people find the story now that I've moved it.

Okay so on with the rest of the date from Edward's POV. Here goes nothing . . .

*************

"An ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship."

-Spanish Proverb

***************

Edward settled down into the last empty seat on the row that the others had chosen. He could hear the vile string of profanity coming from Mike's head as he took his seat on Bella's left. Edward settled down on her right and leaned over to whisper into her ear.

"My God, he's a jealous little boy, isn't he?"

She smiled. "Now you know why I agreed to this whole charade."

"Charade? I thought we were friends." He let his face fall into slight frown that only Bella's eyes could see in the darkened room.

"We are . . . I think . . ." Bella paused for a moment and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Besides," she continued, "someone has to teach Mike Newton a lesson for all those dirty thoughts that have been running through his head all week. I feel like I need a shower every day when I leave school." Bella grimaced at the thought.

"Well, are you ready to get this show on the road?" He looked at her eyes shining in the light from the projector.

"Now or never." He could hear a hint of trepidation in her voice. When his eyes met hers she quickly looked down towards the floor, the blood rushing to her face making her cheeks darken slightly.

"Don't you trust me?" He looked at her with a smile behind his sparkling eyes.

"Yes," she whispered so quietly that he wasn't sure he had even heard her speak.

The darkness grew deeper in the theater as the previews ended and the movie began. The screen went black for a moment during the transition, and the world closed in around the two of them. Bella lowered her arm onto the arm rest next to his. They were millimeters away from each other. Nearly touching, but not quite. He could feel the warmth of her blood flowing through the veins in her arm and something like static electricity that flowed between them. She moved slightly in her chair, and he could feel her every move in the change of the energy between the two of them. Without even looking at her he knew that she had changed position so that she was leaning on the arm she had laid next to his. He could smell the scent of vanilla and lilacs in her hair as the breeze created by her movement blew the molecules of scent in his direction.

He felt each beat of her heart that caused the blood to pulse through her body and heard each and every intake of breath into her lungs. He was acutely aware of her, and her presence distracted him so much that he forgot to even pay attention to the story beginning to unfold on the screen. The movie played on for a few minutes introducing the main characters and laying the foundations of the plot waiting to run its course while Edward stayed lost in this blissful oblivion.

He couldn't bring himself to look in her direction, so he stared at the moving images in front of him. They became a blur, and the sound from the speakers became a buzz like a mosquito in his ear. The moments drug on like hours, and the world seemed to slow to nearly a stop. If his heart could have beat, it would have been pounding in his chest. All this from a few minutes sitting next to her in the dark.

For a moment he felt like a fool, and then Edward realized that he felt like a teenager again. He hadn't felt been teenager for 80 years, not since his transformation into a vampire, but now he almost felt alive again. The feelings were fresh, since he had never experienced them before.

_Interesting. I wonder . . ._

Edward decided to try a little experiment and let his hand brush against Bella's in the dark. He felt a jolt of electricity flow through his arm beginning at the point of contact between their hands, but he couldn't bring himself to pull away. He heard Bella breathe in sharply next to him, and expected her to jerk her hand away from his. To his surprise, she didn't move an inch.

They sat there frozen like statues for a few minutes before either of them dared to budge. Bella made the first movement brushing her warm fingers against the back of his hand lightly as a feather dragging across his skin. Sparks shot up his arm again keeping him frozen in place. Luckily none of the humans with them were paying attention or they would have wondered why Edward Cullen suddenly looked like a corpse.

Bella's fingers traveled slowly towards his wrist and up his smooth ice cold arm before reversing direction and returning to the back of his hand. Edward realized that he had stopped breathing several minutes ago and drew air into his lungs breathing in her scent again mingled with the stale popcorn and sticky sweet soda smell of the theater around them. He gathered his courage and glanced over to where Bella was sitting her eyes glued to the screen. His gaze lowered to where their hands met on the sliver of fabric that separated their seats. Her skin nearly matched his in tone and color, and the combination of the two pale hands side by side in the black was beautiful and fascinating to him.

Edward leaned closer to Bella his cold breath caressing the skin around her ear. He could see the goose bumps that rose on her skin. He breathed in gently before he began to whisper.

"You ready to crush all of little Mike's hopes and dreams?" He made his words as soft as possible in order for only Bella to hear. Her breathing sped up as his voice struck her ears. She looked into his eyes and nodded so lightly that it was imperceptible to the others around them.

"Okay, Bella, I'm going to put my arm around you now. I have to make this a little exaggerated or he's never going to get the point. If I do anything that makes you uncomfortable let me know."

"I will . . ." She looked into his face one last time and smiled before returning her gaze to the film. Edward considered his options for a few minutes before deciding on the corniest thing possible.

After rummaging around in Mike's mind for a short time, he had come to the conclusion that it was going to take blunt force trauma to make him realize that he never stood a chance as far as Bella was concerned, so Edward decided to go for the old "yawn and reach" technique. He'd never actually tried it before, but it seemed to be a popular choice for the average movie script. Plus it was something that Mike had actually considered trying himself only a few minutes ago. He figured Bella would appreciate the irony.

Struggling to keep a grin from breaking out on his face, Edward took a chest full of air into his lungs stretching his arms up above him in the air. He gently brought his left arm down to rest across the back of Bella's chair. When his wrist made contact with the seat he allowed his fingers to brush across the shoulder of Mike's jacket pulling his attention away from the movie screen. Mike turned his head to the side quickly, and a wave of rage shot out from his thoughts when the sight before him registered in his mind.

Edward could feel Bella's shoulders convulsing beneath his arm, as she fought furiously to keep from laughing aloud, and he couldn't avoid smiling. He felt Bella lean closer to him, and he pulled his arm tighter around her shoulders letting his hand trail down her arm, and for the moment he forgot that Mike Newton even existed. Her scent attacked him again. Not human, not vampire, but wonderful just the same.

Once again, the world around him became a blur, and for the moment it was just the two of them there in the dark. He felt her warmth soak into his arm and heat the flesh there to the same temperature as her body. They sat there unaware of anything else in the world for the longest time. The movie played on unnoticed. The only thing that mattered to Edward was the so much more than just a human girl that rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

He felt her stir beneath his arm after what must have been an hour, pushing herself upright in her chair. Edward pulled his arm back and looked at her questioningly.

"Excuse me, I need a . . . umm. . . moment."

He stared at her, confused until the realization hit him that she was still half human with all the same needs as a human girl. He smiled at her to remove the look of concern that was painted on her face and stood to allow her to exit the row of seats. Bella quickly rose and made her way down the stairs of the theater towards the exit.

Edward returned to his seat and suddenly Mike's eyes were on him. Mike leaned over to speak.

"Psst. Hey, Cullen."

"What do you need Newton?" Edward's voice was hostile as he responded to the Mike's summons.

"Just wondering, how long have you and Bella been going out?" Mike's hands gripped the arm rest so tightly that his knuckles blanched to white.

"Not long."

"Oh . . ."

"It's actually our first date." Edward smiled and turned to look at the screen. Mike's thoughts swirled in his head. He considered everything from attempting to attack Edward in the parking lot to trying to talk Bella out of whatever has possessed her to date Edward Cullen in the first place, but nothing stuck in his mind for more than a moment. Edward could feel Mike's thoughts begin to take a different turn when Jessica's hand brushed against his leg. His attention diverted quickly to the head of frizzy hair next to him in the dark, and his mind filled with something that seemed to be a memory rather than just a fantasy.

Edward felt his mind recoil from distaste and quickly put up a shield against the rest of the memory. The little bit he had seen left a bad taste in his mouth. Mike saw Jessica as little more than a toy to use for his pleasure, and Jessica seemed to think little better of herself. Edward kept his focus on the movie screen, although the intensity of Mike's thoughts were battering at his mind trying to gain entry. He sat quietly for as long as he could, until a slight movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He glanced quickly to the left and caught an eyeful of Mike's hand traveling not too gently up the hem of Jessica's skirt.

Edward quickly rose from his seat without excusing himself and found his way to the double doors at the bottom of the stairs. He pushed them harder than he meant to and one of them stopped and bounced quickly back.

"Ouch," he heard a familiar voice behind the wood of the door and rushed too quickly around to find Bella with her hand pinching the bridge of her nose. "Jesus, was that you Edward?"

"Sorry, Bella," he murmured quickly. "I was kind of in a hurry."

"You look like you saw a monster." She laughed pulling the hand away from her nose. "Anyway, no harm, no foul. I'm fine. You just startled me, but it looks like the door didn't come out as well as I did."

Edward looked at the wood paneling on the outside of the theater door. Where it had struck Bella's face a dent the exact size and shape of her nose was left in the slightly splintered wood. He sighed slightly and threw his hands up in the air.

"You want to get out of here? Mike and Jessica are up to something that I wouldn't deem entirely decent in there, and I've had more than enough of it."

"Mike and Jessica?" She looked confused.

"Umm, yeah. Listen you don't even want to know about it. Want to go somewhere a little more interesting." Bella could see the disgust in his expression and decided not to ask for more information.

"I guess. The movie was pretty boring anyway. Is your car in the lot?" Her brows came together in a questioning look.

"No. I thought it would be more convincing if it looked like we came together."

"I guess I'm driving then." Her face lightened up, and she reached into her pocket for the keys to the ancient truck parked in the small parking lot.

"Looks like it." He smiled at her. Normally he would have wanted to drive, but this was anything but a normal situation.

"Let's go." Bella grabbed his hand, and nearly drug him into the parking lot. He could feel the strength in her arm as she tugged his hand and led him out the door. When they reached the side of the truck she dropped his hand to sort through the keys on the ring and find the one that unlocked the truck's doors. She slid the key in the lock and deftly twisted it releasing the locking mechanism inside. When she turned to face him, he stood there staring in awe at her.

"Are you okay?" She looked down at her clothes and body as if checking to see it anything was out of place. "Do I have something in my teeth?"

"N. . . No." Edward stammered for a minute thrown completely off balance by her.

"Is everything alright?"

"Fine," he managed to get out. "I'm fine. Just a little startled."

"Startled? At what?" She stared for a moment.

"At you." The moment the words left his lips recognition lit up her face. It lasted only a moment before it was quickly replaced by a blush. Bella looked at the ground bringing her hands up to cover her cheeks.

"Sorry," she spoke quietly.

"It's okay. Please don't be embarrassed." He reached forward cupping her chin in his hand and turning her face up to meet his. "I didn't mean anything bad by it. I've never met anyone like you before. Not a vampire, human, or anything else under the moon. You're so strong. I bet you could take Emmett in an arm wrestling match."

"What? No way. He's got to be way stronger than I am."

"Want to find out?"

She looked at the sky for a moment before speaking. "What do they think of me Edward? I mean, they must believe I am a complete freak after the little show I put on for them a few days ago."

"Actually they're all curious about you. They've never seen anything like you either. Jasper is a little afraid of you, but Emmett's too pigheaded to be afraid. He's been betting he could take you down ever since Carlisle told them all the truth."

"You're kidding."

"Scout's honor." Edward held up his hand, three fingers raised toward the sky in the boy scout salute. She smiled.

"You really think I could take him?"

"Definitely."

"Hmm. Alright, you talked me into it." She opened the truck's passenger door. "Vampires first," she whispered, but Edward heard it loud and clear. He looked around the parking lot before springing into the seat.

Bella laughed, "I might be strong, but you're much faster than I could ever dream of being."

"Guess, we have to have something on you, or else I wouldn't stand a fighting chance." _Not sure if I ever did. _

She walked around the front of the truck at a human pace, and climbed into the driver's side sliding the key into the ignition. She turned, and the truck roared noisily to life underneath them. She quickly put the truck in reverse and backed out of the parking space. As they passed Mike's van parked at the back of the lot, Bella slid her hand under Edward's. He laced his fingers between hers, and they drove off into the dark.

*************

A/N: Yes I know things are moving slowly, but that's how I like 'em. Don't worry things will start to happen, but at a more natural pace. I know natural is an odd word to use for these two, but something about them has to be less than supernatural now doesn't it. Besides quick romances hardly ever work out well; just look at Romeo and Juliet.

Leave a review and let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Family

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I needed to fulfill some commitments for the Support Stacie Auction before I could continue. That said I actually have written nearly 20,000 words in the past month which is enough for 4 chapters of this story, so I feel bad. But here it is. Once more, sorry for the wait.

PS. I was listening to the new Tokio Hotel CD while I wrote this, which I jacked from my little sister (who at 25 is not too little).

Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to SMeyer.

BPOV

* * *

"Blood is thicker than water, Oh, but love is thicker than blood."

~Garth Brooks

*******************

Bella and Edward sat in silence for the remainder of the drive back to Forks. She neither knew nor cared what the others thought of their disappearance. It seemed to her that keeping up appearances mattered very little any longer. The silence, both physical and mental, that surrounded them was a pleasant change of pace. She could feel the muscles in her back and shoulders begin to relax. Bella hadn't even realized how tightly they had been wound.

She listened to the sound of the truck's engine thrumming, and it was the only sound that filled her thoughts. Edward's hand lightly rested on her own, and she could feel the energy from his touch buzzing up her arm erasing everything from her head except him.

She drove as if by instinct taking them steadily towards the Cullens' home. She could feel herself drawn there as though magnetically pulled. Though she had only been there once before, she had no trouble finding the almost invisible turn off from the main highway.

As she pulled the truck down the drive, she could feel the apprehension building in her chest. The last time she had been here, things hadn't ended well, and she wasn't sure how the rest of the Cullen's felt about her presence now that they knew the truth. Edward had told her that Jasper was even afraid of her. She felt her heart speed up in her chest and an answering squeeze from Edward told her that he had heard her body's response to her trepidation at being in his house again.

She breathed in deeply as the truck pulled to a stop and turned to face him. For a moment, their eyes locked, and Bella suddenly felt her courage fortified. Edward smiled at her, and the warmth of it caused the ice building inside her chest to begin to melt.

"You're going to be great," he answered the question that she hadn't asked reading it from her expression rather than her thoughts. "Don't worry about them. They just need to get to know you. If it helps any, Alice is already in love with you." And for some reason it was important to her that Alice cared so much already after only a few minutes together in her room just a few days ago.

With a little less fear Bella deftly turned the key in the ignition shutting the truck down in the drive next to the house. She could hear movement from inside and smell the cloying aroma of the vampires that called this place home. She breathed in deeply and climbed down from the truck slamming the door closed behind her. The gravel crunched beneath her feet as she made her way around the truck towards the front door of the house. Before she could close the distance between herself and the door, Edward bounded up the stairs to open the door for her.

"Allow me," he gently swung the door open to allow her to walk through into the great room of the Cullen's home. She looked around this room for the second time in a week. The last time she'd been here, she had been too nervous to bother taking in her surroundings. Now, she drank in the sight of it hungrily. The pastels of the walls and floors gave the house a calm feeling like a sanctuary, and she supposed that's exactly what it was for the Cullens, the one place where they could be themselves. In all honesty, it was slowly becoming that way for Bella as well.

She knew that even though she'd only been here once before, it was the only place that she had ever been known for what she truly was, and walking through that front door felt like coming home. She heard the sound of footsteps coming gently but quickly down the stairs.

"Hello again, Bella," a warm voice greeted her, and she looked up to see Esme descending the staircase gracefully. "The others are out hunting, but they'll be back soon. Why don't you and Edward wait for them in the family room." She waved her hand towards a small door that lead off of the entrance on the left. "Can I get you anything, Bella?"

"No thank you, Mrs. Cullen."

"Please call me Esme," she smiled again, and Bella's feeling of being at home deepened. Looking at Esme made her heart pang for her own mother, and she made a mental note to call Renee tomorrow as soon as it was a decent hour in Florida where she'd gone to stay with her new husband Phil while he trained for his minor league baseball team.

"Ok, Esme. Thank you." Edward nodded at Esme, and she made her way out of the room towards the left side into what appeared to be a dining room. Edward took Bella's hand and led her to the empty family room that Esme had just indicated. He plopped down on the couch and patted the cushion next to him for her to join him. Bella took the seat next to him gently perching on the edge of the seat.

"She's worried about you, you know." Edward looked at her for a moment before continuing. "She's not sure that you're going to be able to handle this situation on your own."

Bella looked down at her hands and then back up to Edward's face. "I don't know what I can handle, but I don't think I want to try to go through this alone." She answered him quietly.

"You know you don't have to," his response brought a tear to her eye, and she quickly reached up dashing it away with the side of her hand. For three long months now, she had been alone without a soul to confide in , and now here was this boy, no not a boy, vampire who was willing to open himself up and let her in. Funny thing was, they were supposed to be enemies, but he felt like anything but an enemy.

"I know . . ." Her voice trailed off unsure of how to continue. Bella wasn't sure where any of this was going. It seemed to her that her life had been wrenched out of her control that night that she took James's hand and followed him out of the party, and ever since, she had been careening down a strange path without brakes or a map. It was an unpleasant feeling for her. "I just . . . Edward, I . . . you . . . we . . ."

Bella was interrupted by the sound of a door crashing open behind them. She stood up, her body tensing in preparation for an attack and wheeled around on her heels to face the source of the sound. Her heart sped away in her chest, and her hands clenched into two tight fists she held at her sides. Her vision swam as red suddenly clouded her eyes.

". . . So anyway, I was telling Jasper that . . ." The body that came barreling through the door was Edward's older brother Emmett. When he saw Bella, waiting for him in her defensive position he froze in place. The others walking directly behind him sensed he tension in his body and quickly arranged themselves in a line at his side. When their eyes met Bella's, the girls relaxed a little in recognition of her face, but Emmett and Jasper sensed the danger in her glare and cautiously made their way a little further into the room.

"Hi, Bella." Alice chimed from Emmett's left. The friendly tone of her voice served to ease Bella's defensiveness enough to bring her to her senses.

_Bella, it's okay. They're friends . . ._

Her thoughts slowly returned to normal, color returning to the world as the crimson slowly drained away. Alice reached out putting her hand on Emmett's shoulder and easing herself around in front of the other Cullens.

"Bella?" Alice spoke cautiously as she stepped forward. "Are you alright?"

Bella breathed in deeply struggling to contain her apprehension. "Yes, I just need a minute. You startled me." She felt a tingling sensation travel up her left hand that erased most of her fear and stress. When she looked down, Bella saw Edward's fingers twined around her own. He moved quickly to her side, and his proximity served to still the blood rushing through her ears slowing her heart to a nearly normal pace.

"It's okay." She felt his cold breath against her ear lobe as he whispered to only her. "Remember, they're going to love you . . ."

Bella stepped closer to the assembled vampires closing the distance between them with a little trepidation and allowing Edward's fingers to slip gently from her own. Emmett and Jasper still stood at the ready for an attack, but Alice approached Bella with a smile on her lovely face. She quickly took Bella into her arms squeezing her into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you came back. I guess now you're going to make Emmett eat his words." She backed off a step or two removing herself from in between Bella and Emmett. Alice grabbed Emmett's hand and pulled him forward to stand directly in front of Bella. The two of them stared at each other in a silent face off for one long moment before either of them spoke.

Emmett broke the silence with a laugh. "So, you're supposed to be able to take me down in a wrestling match." He snorted. "I'd love to see a little girl like you try."

Bella felt a surge of indignation at his condescending speech. She had no idea of the extent of her strength because she'd always struggled to keep it in check. Every day was a struggle to avoid breaking each and every object that she came into contact with. She could feel adrenaline pulse through her veins at the opportunity to really let go and see what she was capable of doing. She looked over at Alice raising her eyebrows in a silent question. Alice merely nodded in response.

"Are you sure you want to be so certain about that Emmett?" Bella placed her hands on her hips and looked for all the world like a spoiled child. Emmett guffawed.

"I'll take my chances."

"Okay, well. You're on then."

They were all startled by a voice drifting in from the dining room. "Not in my house. You take that outside before you break something." None of them moved. "This instant."

Emmett groaned and turned around to head back out the door he had just entered the rest of the Cullen's travelling slowly behind him. Bella hesitated for a moment wheeling around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She faced Edward as he spoke.

"Alice can't see you, you know. She can only see that Emmett's going to be really disappointed in a few minutes. Are you sure you want to take this chance?" She could see the concern in his eyes, and it touched her heart.

"Well, I'm not certain about anything right now, but I'd really like a chance to see what I can do." She shrugged her shoulders as she finished speaking.

"I understand," he replied quietly. "Please be careful."

"Sure, I wouldn't want to break your brother or anything." She turned and walked out of the room leaving him behind.

"That's not what I meant . . ." His words cut off in midstream when she walked through the door. She could have heard him perfectly well, but she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with that situation at the moment.

Everyone was gathered in a clearing a short distance from the house waiting for her to arrive. She saw Emmett walking around in a small circle stretching his arms and neck and cracking his knuckles as she approached. She walked to a point a few feet in front of him and simply stood with her arms resting at her sides.

To an outside observer the scene would have been comical. A group of teenagers stood in a semicircle on a darkened lawn around a young girl and a young man who could have easily passed for a bear had he been in a fur coat.

"You'd better tell me when you're ready to give up because I really don't want to hurt you. I think Alice would be mad at me for breaking her new toy."

Bella snorted, "Well, you'd better tell me when you want me to stop because Edward would never forgive me for killing his older brother." Emmett's face broke into a huge grin at the banter. He was obviously enjoying this.

"So who should be our referee?" Emmett looked around the group his eyes settling on Jasper's face. "Jazz?"

"I don't know Emmett," Jasper's eyes widened in apprehension. "You know how I feel about all of this."

"Go on, Jasper." Alice quietly urged him grabbing his hand. "It's going to be alright." She pulled him gently between the pair and slowly backed away smiling.

"Alright, I guess." He looked at Bella and moved a few paces away. "Ok, the rules. First, no biting."

Bella nodded her eyes locked onto Emmett's as she gathered her strength and courage for what was coming. Jasper's words became a blur to her as her attention drew down upon her opponent. She could see the lines the muscles of his chest made against his shirt as he moved and hear the gently rush of air as he breathed slowly in and out. The scent of vampire assaulted her nostrils as her senses became more attuned to the situation. Her tongue flicked out over her lips, and Bella could taste the scent of Emmett on the air.

Each of the vampires around her took on their own separate and distinct odor and flavor in addition to the cloyingly sweet odor they normally held. Before her, Emmett's was that of cinnamon hot and sweet floating across the air towards her. To her side, the sweet scent of apples drifted from Alice and the smell of some strange tropical fruit beckoned her in the direction of Rosalie. Jasper's odor reminded her of magnolia blossoms in the hot summer sun.

Finally, from behind her the scent of cookies baking in a warm oven drifted over her shoulder. Edward's scent. She was growing more and more accustomed to that smell as time wore on. The last time she had visited their home, his scent had clung to her nostrils for hours afterwards making her crave her grandmother's sugar cookies. She hadn't tasted one of them in years, but the odor brought forth the memory of standing in her grandmother's kitchen as a small girl staring through the glass at the front of the oven door waiting for the timer on the counter to ding signaling the completion of their cooking time.

She took in a deep breath, and the scent made her feel more at home in this place that she had felt in many years. Bella had always been close to her grandmother, and something felt like it had been missing in her heart ever since. That scent both filled and exacerbated the wound that had been left behind.

The process of taking in her surroundings had seemed to take hours, but in reality had only taken a few moments of time. When she came back to herself, Jasper was still going through the rules of the competition, more for her sake than anything else. Edward had told her they regularly held wrestling matches at the house more out of boredom than anything else. Emmett had always been the easy champion, so much so that most of the others refused to be matched against him. The result being that he actually hadn't been challenged by anyone in over six years.

Jasper looked over at Bella as he completed his explanation of the rules. The match was to be decided when one of the opponents was shoulders was pinned to the ground just like a normal high school wrestling match. Bella had seen a few of them during her time in Phoenix, and felt pretty comfortable with the rules.

"Do you understand the rules, Bella?" Jasper looked in her direction and she merely nodded in response.

"Emmett?" Emmett's eyes bored into Bella's as he nodded in response. Jasper slowly began backing away as the two of them bent their legs placing themselves in their fighting positions. The air became noticeably thicker as the tension between the two of them built. They stood there glaring at each other for a few moments before Jasper finally signaled the beginning of the match by throwing his hand up into the air and saying, "Go!"

The entire world seemed to enter a state of slow motion, and Bella could clearly see Emmett's every movement as he approached her at a run. She felt like a scarecrow standing in the path of an oncoming train as he barreled towards her. Unable to think of an appropriate response, she merely stood her ground. He pummeled into her with all the force of a speeding locomotive, but instead of being thrown backwards as she expected, Bella could feel the train bending around her. Her feet planted were firmly on the ground and the rest of her body didn't move an inch from the shock of the impact.

The moment that it took for Emmett to realize that he wasn't having any effect on her seemed like an eternity. His feet were still running ripping the sod up from beneath his feet, but he may as well have been running into a cliff for all the impact it was having.

Bella heard a gasp from the rest of the group, as it became obvious to them that Emmett wasn't going to be able to move Bella no matter how hard he tried, and Bella felt a laugh bubbling up from her abdomen as he continued to try. It began as a low rumble in her throat, but within a few seconds she had graduated to a fully belly laugh as Emmett continued his struggle. Bella reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder and shoving him away. He staggered backward a step or two before straightening up and simply staring at Bella.

She stood in the same spot laughing until she felt tears pouring down her face.

_What have I been running from all this time? _

She breathed in deeply a few times until she had her laughter under control and beckoned for Emmett to come at her again. "Is that all you've got Cullen?"

She heard him roar as he thundered towards her again. This time she staggered backwards at the impact. She could feel the energy draining from her body with every second that he pushed at her, until she was forced to move with him. Bella tripped over her own feet in the scramble and tumbled to the ground. Emmett collapsed on top of her in a head of legs and arms as they struggled on the ground.

They rolled over and over tumbling head over feet. First Bella on top of the heap, then Emmett. The others merely made way for them as they clashed, and for Bella the rest of the world became a blur as the scuffle continued on for unending minutes. It seemed that, for the moment, they were nearly evenly matched.

Suddenly Bella felt a sharp pain in her left arm as it scraped over a rock protruding from the ground beneath her. Blood flowed from the scratch, and the shock from the impact traveled up her body. Every muscle in her tiny frame tensed at that one moment, and once again her vision was clouded with red. Emmett was on top of her at the time, and she reached up grabbing his shoulders and flipping him bodily over on his back pushing him roughly down into the turf. He grunted and struggled to be free of her grasp to no avail, and it took every ounce of her concentration not to rip his arms off where they joined to his body and use them to beat him senseless. She breathed in and out roughly attempting to calm herself as she sat atop him. The others stared in disbelief as she slowly took her weight off his body and brought herself to a standing position.

Bella backed away from the group slowly until there was a distance of some feet between them and herself. She took in lungfuls of the cool night air concentrating on the temperature differences between the incoming molecules and her body to bring her thoughts back under her conscious control. Her instincts raged against her straining to go after these creatures that filled her vision begging to be set free to rip them apart limb from limb.

She fought against them and slowly found herself winning. With every gasp of air she took in her body came closer to its normal state of being. She could feel her heart slowing and breathing settling into a normal pattern.

Edward approached her cautiously taking steps towards her so slowly that at first she wasn't even sure that he was moving, but it slowly became clear that the distance between them was closing inch by inch. After some moments, he reached out cautiously brushing his fingers against the skin on the back of her hand.

The sensation caused Bella to draw her breath in between her teeth in a hiss. Edward drew back his hand quickly at the harsh noise, and Bella looked down at the ground gritting her teeth.

"Edward, I . . . need . . . a . . . minute." She spoke slowly enunciating every syllable in her struggle, and as soon as she finished speaking turned and broke into a run heading directly for the woods. She heard the sounds around her change as the trees enveloped her in their muffled silence. After putting what she considered to be a safe distance between herself and the Cullens she dropped down to sit on the leaves that blanketed the forest floor dropping her face into her hands.

_Fit for neither man nor beast . . .I don't know what I was thinking coming here again. There is no way any of this is going to work. I guess I'm just destined to this half life, not quite human, not quite vampire. All the worst of both worlds . . ._

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps that approached her back softly through the night air, but she did recognize the scent as hit her nostrils.

C_ookies. _

She quickly stood and whirled to face him in a movement so sudden that she startled herself. He froze in his tracks examining her eyes for any trace of the crimson color that had flooded them a few moments before.

"Bella," he began.

"Stop!" She yelled at him as she began to back away. "Just stop right there. Edward, what are we doing? What kind of game is this?"

"Game?" He looked at her confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"This thing . . . you know. . . us. This can never work. You have no idea how hard I had to fight to keep from taking you all down back there. I guess you'll just have to find some other new toy to play with."

"Bella," he spoke calmly and softly standing his ground. "Will you please listen to me for a minute before you go running off again?"

She folded her arms across her chest breathing deeply and simply nodded.

"You are not some shiny new toy that we vampires are fighting over. You certainly are a novelty. None of us have seen anything like you in our lifetimes, and that's saying something." Bella opened her mouth to speak, but Edward held up a hand to stop her. "Stop. You need us, and you know it. And we're not afraid of you."

"You told me Jasper . . ."

"Jasper is a big boy. He can take care of himself. You on the other hand. I'm not sure about that."

She felt indignant for a moment and balled her hands into a pair of fists the anger pulsing through her veins.

"And you think I need **you** to take care of me?" She snorted and turned to walk away.

"Will you please just stop Bella?" He reached out to grab her arm, and she shrugged him off moving away. "STOP!" He roared at her, and the tenor of his voice sopped her in her tracks. "You are so stubborn. I know you can take care of yourself. You proved that admirably back there. I like you Bella, and I want to know more about you. But for that to happen, you're going to have to stick around. Do you understand?"

Bella nodded staring down at her feet. She felt a finger under her chin lifting her face upwards. She allowed him to guide her head until they were face to face inches from each other.

"Now, will you come back to the house with me? The others have some questions they want to ask you."

"You mean they're not all waiting to burn me at the stake or something?" She questioned him with her eyes, and he responded with a giggle.

"Will you please just trust me? For once?"

Bella nodded, and Edward took her hand guiding her gently back towards the house. Silence closed in around them as they made their way though the trees, and Bella felt almost normal again for a fleeting moment.

*********

Next chappie from EPOV. Thank you to everyone who has helped and inspired me in writing this chapter. I apologize for it being overdue, and I thank all of you who have stuck with me all this time as I worked through some of my real life difficulties. You are all beautiful.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – A Broken Door

A/N: I would like to thank Britpacksuccubus for the lovely beta job on the last chapter and she and Danell for the beta read on this one. It's wonderful to have someone to look through my stuff and find all those missing commas and pesky spelling problems, and good to know that I don't suck as much as I thought I did. Thank you!

I have been struck by inspiration in the form of music for the next several chapters. The ideas are rolling around in my head begging to be put down on paper, and I pretty much can see my way to the end of this thing, so thank you for putting up with me on my mad ramblings to this point. Hope you enjoy the rest of the journey.

We begin with a retelling of the fight between Emmett and Bella from Edward's point of view.

Now, for the chapter.

All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer, so no copyright infringement intended.

*****************

"I'm staring at a broken door,

There's nothing left here any more

My room is cold,

It's making me insane."

-_Monsoon, _Tokio Hotel

****************

EPOV

Edward watched mesmerized as Emmett bore down on Bella with the look of grim determination that he had come to associate with a charging bull. Only the glint of laughter that caressed his thoughts hinted at the real amusement he felt in being challenged by a little girl.

_I promise not to break her__,__ Edward._

Edward chuckled to himself. "Funny she said the same thing about you," he muttered so quietly that only Alice heard. Her laughter tinkled softly beside him.

_He's not going to take this well. How long has it been since he lost? _

Edward thought back across the years. There were only a handful of times Emmett had been defeated by anyone and never an enemy of the Cullens. Once about ten years after he had been changed, he'd challenged Edward to a wrestling match. It had been the only time Edward had ever won. Because of dumb luck and sheer speed, Edward was able to take advantage of Emmett's momentum to trip him up and ram him into a large tree. In the moment he stood dazed from the impact, Edward had him pinned to the ground, but that had all been happenstance.

In fact**,** every other time it had been fate rather than skill that had accounted for the outcome of each match up. Edward wondered if today would be the same. Alice could not see the match, but she could clearly see Emmett's resulting sulk. Fortunately, he was easily distracted, so it wouldn't last long, but he was most definitely not going to take this well.

"Seventeen years," he answered Alice softly, "the year Bella was born."

Alice smiled.

_Ironic . . ._

Jasper was tolling off the same rules that they had used hundreds of times before. Edward was so familiar with this speech that he could recite it off in his mind without thinking so rather than listen to his brother repeat it all**;** he decided to study Bella's face as she prepared for the match up. She seemed lost in concentration as she studied her opponent, and he wished again that he could hear what was going on inside her mind. Emmett on the other hand was far too easy to read.

_This isn't even fair. She'll be down in less than a minute. Better bring it back a notch so I don't completely destroy her. Lil' bro would kill me for that one. Oh, she's looking at me. Time to look scary. Rawr. _

Edward stifled a laugh as he saw his brother put on a mock expression of concentration. The only think preventing him from laughing aloud was a nagging concern for Bella's well being that kept nipping at the back of his thoughts.

_If she gets hurt, you'll never forgive yourself. _

He looked back over to Bella, and she seemed to be breathing deeply taking in lungfuls of the air around her as she stood still as stone. She closed her eyes for a brief second, and when she opened them, she was just in time to respond to Jasper's questioning with a simple nod. Emmett mirrored her movement with his own nod when Jasper turned to address him. Both of them positioned themselves in a fighting stance as the tension came to a crescendo between the two opponents.

Jasper removed himself from between the two of them before signaling the beginning of the match by throwing his hand in the air and yelling, "Go!"

Edward saw Emmett begin to build momentum as the ground between the two of them quickly closed, while Bella appeared frozen in place. Edward held his breath as the locomotive that had become Emmett drew closer and closer to the small figure. His hands clenched into fists at his side, and his shoulders became tense expecting the worst. When only inches remained between the two of them it took all the strength Edward could muster not to take Emmett out himself before he could ever touch a hair on Bella's head.

He had prepared himself for the worst, and stood in shocked amazement when the exact opposite happened. Instead of knocking Bella's small body completely to the ground, Emmett was completely stalled in his forward progression. He felt the tension drain away from his body, and began to draw breath again when after several seconds she was unmoved. The tension gave way to amusement and he fought to retain his composure as Emmett struggled against Bella leaving a rut in the grass as his feet churned and attempted to gain traction.

He heard a small gasp next to him as Rose struggled to hold in the laughter that he could see in her eyes and hear in her thoughts. The sound was a tiny attempt to let off some of the pressure to avoid an all out explosion, and suddenly a great bubble of laughter escaped from Bella's throat as she reached down pushing Emmett away like he were some annoying child rather than an enormous vampire. He stood in the place where he stopped, staring in shocked silence as she laughed until tears poured down her face.

Slowly Bella regained control of herself. When she could finally breathe without gasping from laughter, a smile danced across her face and she spoke, "Is that all you've got Cullen?"

Edward could hear the roar in Emmett's thoughts before it came from his mouth.

_Little girl. . .can't believe . . .shouldn't . . .not gonna let her . . . GRRRR. . ._

Emmett's thoughts had become a tangled mess of words and pictures none of which he was able to drag out to completion because of his rage. He focused all of his energy and thoughts into the charge as he barreled across the grass headed straight for Bella. This time, Edward didn't dread the impact, but was instead shocked when Emmett managed to push Bella back a few paces with the force of his rush. He continued to force her to move backwards until her feet became tangled, and they both tumbled in a knot of arms and legs to the ground.

Edward stared in awe as the struggle began in earnest. It awed him that Bella as small as she was could hold her own for so long against Emmett's size and strength. He'd grown used to not judging someone on appearance alone, but the discrepancy between Bella's exterior and her abilities were so striking that even he couldn't reconcile the two of them in his thoughts.

He continued watching as the fight carried on for several minutes. The others made way for the two of them as they failed and struggled for purchase. Neither of them appeared to be able to get an advantage over the other until he saw Bella's elbow scrape against a rock on the ground. Her nostrils flared as the blood flowed from the wound, and the air filled with the scent of her. Sweet, but with a hint of something behind it, something dangerous. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it wasn't something pleasant. The others recoiled from the smell pulling away, and he knew that none of them were enticed by it either.

Edward looked down to where she lay on the ground nearly pinned beneath Emmett's weight and saw her eyes flash with red as she quickly grabbed his shoulders shoving him backwards and down into the earth beneath him. She sat there as Emmett struggled beneath her trying with all his might to get up from the ground. She looked unperturbed, merely closing her eyes breathing deeply and slowly as though fighting some instinct within herself.

In a few moments, she slowly rose in one smooth motion opening her eyes and staring. Edward breathed in sharply as she opened her eyes and the edges of her irises were a dark garnet color fading to brown in the centers. He moved toward her cautiously trying not to startle her, and when he was close enough to reach out for her he allowed his hand to brush softly against her own. The responding hiss caused him to jump and draw back in confusion.

"Edward, I . . . need . . . a . . . minute." She spoke slowly struggling with something inside of herself, and before he could respond she was gone disappearing into the woods behind them. He stood there trying to understand what he had just seen when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

_Edward, go after her. She needs you. She needs us all, but she doesn't know it yet._

He heard Alice's voice in his thoughts and turned to face her with a shrug. "Alice, I just don't know what to say to her. I don't know what she's going through."

"No, I suppose that none of us can, but still, we're her future. That I can plainly see, and she's going to need us more than any of us know right now." She spoke with some authority, and Edward sensed that it was the product of a vision. For the moment, her thoughts were filled with music, and he knew that she was blocking him once again. "Alice, what aren't you telling me?"

"Will you please just trust me for once?" she huffed. "Now go after her for goodness sake. I have to go collect my money from Rose."

Edward felt a laugh bubbling up in his throat, "Rose bet against _you_?"

"Silly girl . . . Now go, and just trust me." Alice shooed him towards the tree line, and Edward followed his nose to where she sat on a bed of leaves her face buried in her hands. He felt the urge to pick her up right then and there. To comfort her and chase away whatever it was that made her so sad. He'd seen the scars on her arm, but only heard a portion of her story.

_Bella, what happened to you? What made you so broken? Please tell me. . ._

Bella stood up in one smooth movement and turned to face him.

"Bella," he began.

"Stop!" She yelled at him as she began to back away. "Just stop right there. Edward, what are we doing? What kind of game is this?"

"Game?" He looked at her confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"This thing . . . you know. . . us. This can never work. You have no idea how hard I had to fight to keep from taking you all down back there. I guess you'll just have to find some other new toy to play with."

"Bella," he spoke calmly and softly standing his ground. "Will you please listen to me for a minute before you go running off again?"

She folded her arms across her chest, breathing deeply and simply nodded.

"You are not some shiny new toy that we vampires are fighting over. You certainly are a novelty. None of us have seen anything like you in our lifetimes, and that's saying something." Bella opened her mouth to speak, but Edward held up a hand to stop her. "Stop. You need us, and you know it. And we're not afraid of you."

"You told me Jasper . . ."

"Jasper is a big boy. He can take care of himself. You on the other hand. I'm not sure about that."

She felt indignant for a moment and balled her hands into a pair of fists the anger pulsing through her veins.

"And you think I need _you _to take care of me?" She turned away, and Edward felt his frustration with her reaching a breaking point.

"Will you please just stop, Bella?" He reached out for her, wanting nothing more than to touch her once again, and she shrugged him off. "STOP!" Edward heard himself yelling at her in his aggravation at her behavior. "You are so stubborn. I know you can take care of yourself. You proved that admirably back there. I like you Bella, and I want to know more about you. But for that to happen, you're going to have to stick around. Do you understand?"

He felt suddenly like he had revealed more of his feelings for Bella than he had meant to. If he could have taken back the past couple of sentences he might have when he saw the look on her face. She just looked down at her feet. He wanted to see her eyes, to be able to see what she was truly thinking. Nothing confused him more than the silence coming from her mind when the only thing he wanted was to be part of her each and every thought. He leaned down and placed a hand beneath her chin, pulling her face up to meet his own.

When they were merely inches apart, he could finally see into her eyes again. What he saw there would have made his heart skip a beat. She trusted him, it was obvious from the expression on her face, but there was some secret pain behind her eyes that he was determined to know more about.

_I swear, whoever has done this to you will pay if they haven't already._

"Now, will you come back to the house with me? The others have some questions they want to ask you." He'd heard in Emmett and Jasper's thoughts the million questions they had regarding Bella's abilities.

"You mean they're not all waiting to burn me at the stake or something?" He saw the fear behind her eyes and laughed not in mockery, but at the contrast between her fears and the reality of the situation. In all honesty, the rest of the Cullens had much more to fear from Bella than she ever had to fear from them. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Will you please just trust me? For once?" She slowly nodded, and he reached down to take her hand feeling the electric current that flowed between the two of them once more as they walked back to the house. When they emerged from the trees he could hear Emmett's rampage coming from the family room that they had previously occupied.

"A little girl . . ." he bellowed. "I let a little girl beat me."

The tirade was punctuated with giggles from Alice and Rose as they sat together on the couch facing the windows that looked out onto the lawn. He felt a movement beside him, and looked over to see Bella struggling not to laugh as she walked more confidently next to him.

"He's not taking it well, is he? Did I hurt him?" she asked shyly.

"No, you hurt his pride more than anything." Edward smiled. "Ready?"

"I suppose . . ." She looked up at him expectantly. "You're sure they're not upset with me."

He squeezed her hand softly in encouragement, "You'll be great, come on." They walked hand in hand up the steps to the house. Edward pushed open the door slowly stepping into the room first as a buffer between Bella and Emmett. He knew that Emmett was more embarrassed than anything else and would never attack Bella, but he felt the need to protect her all the same.

She stepped out from behind him as they emerged into the room. Alice stood up from her place on the couch walking confidently over to Bella and taking her hand.

"I just wanted to thank you for winning me five hundred dollars just now," Alice smiled, and Bella's jaw dropped to her chest.

"Five hundred dollars . . ." she spoke in shock.

Alice giggled, "Yes, Rose decided that it would be safe to bet against me just this once since I can't see you." She looked over at Rosalie sticking out her tongue.

Rosalie frowned in response, "I still say it was going my way until she scraped herself on that damn rock."

Edward laughed this time. "Oh, you two. Stop fighting. You lost that one fair and square Rosalie."

"And she paid for it too. So , the only fair thing would be for me to spend this money on you, Bella, since you won it for me and all."

Bella's eyes widened in shock. She stammered, "I couldn't . . . you . . . I mean . . . I . . .well . . .don't . . ."

"Nonsense," Alice interrupted, " you simply have to let me. Edward, tell her!"

"I've learned over the years that there's no use in arguing with her. You'd probably be better off just to let her have her way, or she'll go all angry pixie on you. You'll like the shopping better, trust me."

_Asking her to trust me again. Wish I didn't have to . . ._

A ghost of a frown flitted across Edward's face, but he shook it away quickly before any of them could notice. Bella looked back and forth between Alice and Edward considering her options for a moment before throwing her hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"I've had enough fighting for one night, so I suppose I'll have to forfeit this one. If you feel like you have to take me out shopping, I won't stop you. I'm not saying I'll enjoy it, but I won't stop you."

Alice beamed and twirled away in a circle. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I knew you were going to go anyway, but I'm glad you gave in so easily."

"Hold on a minute. Edward said you can't see me that clearly. . ."

Alice interrupted, "I can't see you, but I can see myself. And since midnight blue is your color, and not mine, I'm pretty certain I'm shopping for you."

"Oh," Bella laughed. "I guess so then."

Edward rolled his eyes at the two of them. "She's going to be impossible to live with now, you know," he spoke to Bella. When she looked at him questioningly he answered, "You gave in to her too easily, she's never going to take no for answer from you again."

Bella shrugged. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Something tells me that Alice doesn't take no for an answer very easily from anyone."

"You've got me there," Edward conceded with a smile. "No, isn't in her vocabulary."

Alice stood there looking at the two of them alternating between amusement and consternation. She finally settled on amusement and smiled.

"I knew it . . ." Alice grinned smugly and turned to walk away.

"What is she talking about?" Bella looked confused.

"Not a clue," Edward answered honestly. "She's blocking me by conjugating improper French verbs right now."

"She can do that?" She looked over at Edward. "I wish I could teach that one to Jessica. She broadcasts her every thought loud and clear. I've been subjected to quite a few uncomfortable memories involving you as a matter of fact."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, and something about a dance."

Edward laughed, "I had nearly forgotten about that. Yes, she was thinking about that memory loud and clear on your first day wasn't she?"

"Gives me a headache sitting next to her for too long. It's almost like someone yelling in your ear steadily." He could see her wince from the memory of the headache she had suffered that day.

"Bella, don't you know how to tune them out?" Edward looked down at her, his eyes filling with concern.

Bella shook her head from side to side slowly looking like a scolded child.

"I wasn't . . . don't . . . I didn't mean anything by it, Bella," he managed to stammer out . "I just . . .I guess after all this time something like that comes as second nature to me. No one's ever taught you to control your ability have they?"

She shook her head again looking down at the floor for the time being. He pulled her face up so that their eyes met. "Bella, there's nothing for you to be ashamed or worried about. I know you've been hiding this for a long time, but trust me, it's a gift not a curse. Would you like me to teach you what I've learned?"

"Yes," her eyes lit up for a moment. "If you don't mind, that is. I wouldn't want to impose . . ."

"I offered, you're not imposing, believe me. I need an excuse to get out of this house anyway. I don't know if I want to be anywhere near Emmett for a week or two."

"Is it that bad?" Bella looked over at Emmett and Rose talking quietly on the other side of the room. He was fuming mad and glaring at the two of them standing there. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset anyone."

"Don't worry about it. He's just a sore loser. He's going to be in a sulk for a week or two, but he'll get over it, trust me." _Again._

He looked over at Emmett, and the tenor of his thoughts was already beginning to cool. However, he was going to be upset about this one for a while. It was taking all that Rose could manage to prevent him from stomping across the living room like a spoiled child and demanding a rematch. He felt the need to remove Bella from the house as quickly as possible for both Emmett's safety and her own.

"Hey, what time was Charlie expecting you home?"

She frowned and looked over at the clock on the wall opposite. "In about 15 minutes, as a matter of fact. I guess I'd better get going. Should I say anything to Emmett, like apologize or something?"

"Better not. You want me to come with you?" His chest ached with anticipation at her answer. She bit her lip softly rolling it between her teeth, and he was fascinated by her movement. He caught himself staring as she contemplated her answer. He'd never wished to be able to read her thoughts more than he did right now.

_She's probably trying to find a polite way to tell me no. Can't blame her. After everything she's been through, she ought to be running away from this house screaming, not willingly driving away with a vampire in the car with her. _

She looked him square in the eyes and answered simply, "Yes." If his heart had still been beating it would have broken through his chest and flopped out onto the floor at the simple response. Never had one word meant more to him in all his existence.

"Yes?" He looked at her, checking to be certain that she had actually answered him. She simply nodded this time, almost shyly. "You ready to go now?" She nodded again, and he placed a hand on her back guiding her towards the door that led to the foyer and away from Emmett. They walked together in silence out to the truck, Bella climbing in the driver's seat again as Edward jumped into the passenger side. She started the truck, and they made their way into Forks through the darkened night. Once again, she slipped her tiny hand into his as it rested on the seat between them, her fingers curled up and twisted around his so that he couldn't tell where his hand stopped and hers began.

Edward felt a physical ache in his chest at the mere contact of her palm against his own. He could feel the warmth there and the blood that pulsed through the veins that led to her wrist and up her arm. He sat and concentrated on the sensation for a moment. It had been a long time since he'd had any physical contact with a living human. He knew that she was so much more than just a human, but still the feeling was surprisingly similar. Her temperature was only slightly lower than most, and her heart rate was only a little quicker. It would have taken a very skilled physician to tell the difference. He wasn't even sure Carlisle would have noticed it without his finely tuned senses.

When they pulled up outside of the little white house, she turned to face him. "Well, I guess this is goodnight."

He smiled, "Goodnight then. I have a question for you," she looked at him her eyes growing a little wider with expectation at his question, "Would you like me to teach you? How to control the mind reading thing, I mean." He blurted out the question. "I mean you probably don't, and don't think you have to say yes. I just thought. . ."

Bella held a finger to his lips to quiet him. "Sure, Edward. That would be great. I need to go get in the house now before Charlie starts to freak out. You going to be okay to get home?"

He nodded, "See you later, Bella." She climbed out of the truck and made her way to the front door of the tiny house, turning to wave at him before letting herself in with the key over the doorframe. He watched her walk into the house, listening for the sound of her footfalls on the carpeted floor of the living room and stairs, making their way to the hardwood floor of her bedroom. Glancing up, a light flickered on in her room shining out from behind the window there.

Edward fought the urge to perch on the roof like Peter Pan, alighting after a long trip from Neverland at Wendy's window. He made himself get out of the truck and close the door gently so that it didn't make a sound and alert Charlie to his presence. He walked slowly into the woods that snuggled up next to the tiny yard. A million ideas danced around in his mind like fireflies playing in the dimming light.

_What if . . ._

And in those two words were contained a thousand hopes. Bella might not be a vampire yet, but her destiny led her in that direction, and Edward could think of no one, mortal or otherwise, that he would rather spend the expanse of eternity with than she. Already, he could feel a connection between the two of them like string that bound them together. The string was tied to one of his ribs, and he could feel the pull of it as he stretched out the distance between the two of them. He fought it for as long as he could before turning and making his way back to the little house he'd walked away from only minutes before.

When he entered the lawn, he noticed that the light in the little bedroom that looked out over the street was out, and the sounds that drifted down to his ears indicated that Bella was already asleep. He could hear her rhythmic breathing and slowed heart rate even from this distance. He made his way up to the now familiar roof and gently slid up the window to gain access to her room. Settling into the rocking chair, he prepared himself for another night in his favorite place on Earth.

*******

End Note: Ok, stopping here. I was going to make this into one long chapter, but I thought better of it. Just know that I've got a good head start on Chapter 15, and it will be on its way to you ASAP.

The next few chaps will be from EPOV. You'll see why soon, so don't ask silly questions. Just trust me!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Darkness

A/N: Okay, I had to break this one into chunks. This is part two of what would have been chapter 14. Enjoy. Special thanks to Britpacksuccubus, Danell, and VivaViva for looking at this chapter for me and soothing my nerves. You girls are the best.

********  
"Why can't we make this darkness feel like home . . ."

-Tokio Hotel, Monsoon

********

The sun began to rise on a brilliant Sunday morning, and Edward rose silently from the chair where he'd planted himself the night before. He looked over to where Bella lay sleeping peacefully. She'd only been resting for a couple of hours. The rest of her night had been fraught with dreams, nightmares that left her shaking on the bed. Once, she'd actually started crying in her sleep.

Edward was unable to resist the urge to go over to her and brush one of the tears from her cheek. As soon as he touched her, her body calmed down, and the wracking sobs that had shaken her for several minutes ceased. He sat there next to her on the bed staring down at her in awe. The tiny veins in her cheek pulsed with blood, but he felt no temptation. This girl was something entirely foreign to his senses, nothing like anything he had ever experienced before. He was intrigued and, at the same time, trepidatious about all of this. But there was nothing he could do to stop himself.

Already, she had become an addiction for him, and keeping himself out of her life was no longer an option. When he was away from her, he could feel himself physically drawn back to her side. There was no use in denying it now. He could only hope that she could one day feel the same for him.

Once, she'd called his name in her sleep. It had been more like a sigh than anything else, and it had been a nice change of pace from the noises that sounded more like a trapped animal than a human being. At least _that_ he had been able to understand. The rest of her speech was garbled and quick. He made out a few names, chiefly James, and felt his chest heave with an emotion that he hadn't experienced for quite some time. The mere sound of his name brought violence to his mind. He wanted nothing more than to rid the Earth of any being that possessed that name merely out of the murderous rage that surfaced when he thought of the things that monster might have done to Bella.

He had no way to be certain. He couldn't see inside her thoughts, and she wasn't sharing any of that with him . . .yet. One day, perhaps she would grow comfortable enough to let him into that part of her life, but not now.

All Edward had to go on was what he saw from Carlisle's memories of the night he found her there, huddled on the floor looking for the world like a pile of rags in an abandoned house after James had dropped her nearly-dead form on the stones there. He regretted that he hadn't been the one to find her there. The fate that James had met that night had been a mercy when compared to the tortures that Edward could dream up as retribution for the weeks of hell that Bella must have been through.

He saw her beginning to stir and decided to leave before she woke, startled to find him in her room. He didn't want to imagine her reaction to a vampire standing at the foot of her bed in a sleep-hazed state of mind. So, he quickly grabbed a piece of paper, and jotted down the number to his cell phone along with a quick note.

_If you want to work with me today on that __**project**__ we talked about last night, give me a call._

_E_

Leaving the note on the bedside table, he made his way quickly out of the window and down the drainpipe to the small patch of grass at the front of the house. Turning to stare at the window, he backed into the trees at the edge of the lawn. He was reluctant to leave, but from the burning in his throat, he knew that he would need to feed soon. It had been days. When he sat down and thought about it, he realized he hadn't fed since she walked into his life a little over a week ago.

Edward had gone longer without feeding before, but always with disastrous results. So, he turned, feeling the now familiar tug to return to Bella's side, and tried to ignore it. He could feel the bond between them stretching uncomfortably, but he pushed the sensation away to the back of his mind. There was no way he could remove it from his thoughts completely, but they did take a back seat to the now overwhelming thirst that raged through him. Edward took the air around him into his lungs in deep breaths as he made his way farther into the damp forest.

********

Edward paced the floor of his bedroom, twirling the small, silver phone in his right hand. He'd checked it a thousand times in the past two hours making sure he hadn't missed a call, but not once did anything come up on the tiny screen other than the current time. The number sat there mocking him.

_She's not going to call you. Don't know why you even bothered. You represent everything she hates . . ._

At that very moment in time, he felt a vibration in his right hand. Lifting it up to see, his eyes registered that he had an incoming call from a number he did not recognize. Quickly, he flipped the phone open and brought it to his ear, and with a note of excitement in his voice, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Umm, hi." He heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line and broke into a huge grin.

"Bella?" He would have known the voice anywhere, but his mind wasn't able to form a coherent thought for the moment. So he said the first thing that popped into his thoughts; her name.

"Yeah," she sounded reluctant and shy through the phone. "I got your note this morning. How did you get in my room?"

_Oh!_

"Yeah . . . I . . . umm . . . I guess I climbedinthroughthewindow." He blurted his answer quickly hoping that she wouldn't question him further about it. He felt guilty about spying on her in her sleep, but it had become an addiction for him. One thing he knew for certain was that he wouldn't ever be able to lie to her. He was hoping she wouldn't ask.

"What?" She hadn't heard him.

"I climbed in through the window." This time he slowed his speech, but he spoke softly, knowing that no matter how quietly he spoke, she would hear every word.

"Oh." There was silence on the other end of the line. He could hear her breathing, but she didn't respond further.

_Well, you've screwed it up now. Just had to go and leave a note __**in her room**__ of all places. Weren't thinking were you? Wouldn't be surprised if she didn't speak to you ever again. Especially since you're officially a stalker now. _

"Bella, I . . ." he began speaking, but she interrupted him with a question.

"So, how often do you come in my window?"

Edward stopped breathing. This was the question he'd been dreading all this time, and he knew that he had to answer her honestly. There was no way he was going to hide anything from her, but he was certain that this would be the detail that sent her path and his careening apart for the rest of time. He gathered his courage along with a lungful of air before answering.

"Every night . . ."

"What?!?!" He could hear the shock in her voice, and he prepared himself for the worst. "Every night? Why?" The shock had been replaced by curiosity. He nearly laughed aloud with relief.

"You're interesting when you sleep."

"Interesting? Like how?"

_How much to tell her? Should I say that being with her feels like coming home? That my world has always been incomplete, missing huge chunks, until she arrived? The only place that my mind is able to be quiet and still is with her?_

"You dream, and you talk sometimes."

"Talk?"

"You have bad dreams. Nightmares. About I don't know what. What happened to you, Bella?"

"Edward, we should talk in person. I don't like this phone thing. I need to see your face. Do you want to meet me somewhere?"

"I'll come pick you up in a few minutes. I know a place."

"Okay, see you in a minute." He heard the click of Bella ending the call on the other end of the line and then silence. He gently slid the phone back into his pocket, and pulled out the key to his silver Volvo.

Edward made his way swiftly and silently down the stairs, thankful to be avoiding the rest of his family. Although he wasn't sure what the rest of them were up to, they all seemed to have found other places to be. All he knew was that he was the only one in the house. He guessed that they were all in the woods somewhere near the house because of the brightness of the sun. When the sun was shining that brightly, they all tended to stay near home or at least out of sight of any human beings who might be out and about in the fair weather.

He entered the garage that was attached to the back of the house, making his way to, and sliding inside, the shiny car that he used to ferry his siblings back and forth to school on a daily basis. He placed the key in the ignition and turned it, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He could almost feel himself shaking from the anticipation of being around Bella again.

He shifted the car into reverse and backed out through the open garage door, making his way down the drive slowly. His body knew where to go without him even thinking about it, and his mind drifted as the car piloted itself to Bella's house, as if drawn there by a magnet.

When he pulled the car to a stop on Bella's street, he was surprised to see her immediately leave the house and lock the door behind her.

_She must have been waiting for me._

Something in his chest tightened then at the sight of her walking towards him in the blindingly brilliant light. The sun was behind her, and it illuminated the hair that framed her face like a halo.

_Like an angel._

She reached the car and walked around it, letting herself in the passenger door. Smiling at Edward as she settled into the seat next to him, she reached around herself, smoothing the seat belt into place.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She shrugged as she spoke looking over at him expectantly. "Where are we going?"

"That's a surprise." He smiled at her for a second before putting the car back into drive.

She looked at him in silence for a moment before speaking to herself, "Not sure if I like surprises."

"What's that? You don't like surprises? I think you'll like this one." He kept his eyes facing forward, afraid to look at her face directly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see the thoughts plastered there, so they drove on without speaking for a while. Edward's right hand rested on the console between the seats of the Volvo, and a few minutes later, he felt the familiar pressure of a much smaller hand sliding beneath his. When he looked down at his hand, he saw Bella's fingers twining around his own. This position was becoming comfortably familiar to him, and he wrapped his hand around hers, giving it a little squeeze.

Edward made his way onto the highway that led out of town, never once letting go of Bella's hand even for a moment. After a couple of miles, he turned off on one of the smaller side roads that led into the forest surrounding the highway. Before they had even traveled a mile in this direction, the road abruptly came to a stop, culminating in a gravel path that was flanked by two brown posts standing sentinel in the middle of nowhere.

He pulled the car to a stop, parking just past the end of the asphalt and looked over towards Bella.

"We're here."

"Where's here?"

"Just get out of the car."

Bella shrugged and climbed out of the passenger seat, standing next to the car and slamming the door shut behind her. He let himself out of the opposite side, closing the door more gently than she had. He looked at her as she lifted her nose to sniff the air slightly.

"Smell something?" he laughed. This place was covered with his scent.

"Cookies," she mumbled under her breath.

"Cookies?" he looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, never mind. Where are we going?"

"Can't you follow your nose?" he teased her gently, but he saw the flare in her eyes at the dare implied in his voice.

"Of course, I can." She shot daggers at him with her eyes, before turning to face the trees and sniffing the air. "You've obviously been here recently, and many times before that."

"Well, last one there is a rotten egg." He took off like a bolt of lightning into the woods, followed closely by Bella. The trees rushed by in a blur as he swerved and danced from side to side to avoid hitting them. He could hear Bella only a few steps behind him, brushing against leaves and branches that stood in her way.

Bella and Edward emerged from the woods into a clearing filled with sunlight. They had long ago left the vehicle behind, making their way at a blinding speed through the trees. The longer they ran, the harder it became for her to keep up, but thankfully the meadow was only five miles into the woods from the end of the road.

The clouds above had parted and allowed a lone ray of light to filter down and strike exactly this spot. Bella stopped dead in her tracks and stared around her in wonder at the scene that lay before her. It looked like something out of a storybook, and she looked as if she half expected a fairy to come darting from under one of the ferns or wildflowers that dotted the small meadow.

It had been raining earlier in the day, and the moisture still glistened on the foliage.

"Oh, Edward," she breathed in deeply as she paused, "it's so beautiful here. What is this place?"

"Jasper and I stumbled upon this clearing right after our return to Forks. No one ever comes here since it's so far off any beaten path, except animals and us of course." Edward took the air deeply into his lungs, studying it for any trace of a foreign scent. The air was tinged with the smell of a small herd of deer that had trailed through the nearby woods earlier in the day. A strange aroma hit him for just a second like burning sulfur, but it faded as quickly as it had appeared. Edward wrote it off to some distant fire and returned his attention to Bella.

She had settled her body into a space created by the protruding roots of one of the ancient trees that lined the edge of the clearing. Her jacket lay on the ground next to where she sat, and the sun glinted off the skin of her arms left bare by the gray tank top she had worn beneath it. He stood staring in awe of the vision she presented. Everything about her screamed warning to him. The scars, her scent that was so close to human but mixed with something that reminded him of a sweet poison. Her eyes, nearly the same golden brown as his own but flecked with traces of crimson too faint for any human eye to observe. She was the most beautiful, enticing, and dangerous being he had ever laid eyes on.

The whole time he'd sat there staring at her, Bella had been carefully observing her surroundings. Her eyes made their way across the length of the meadow until they found their way to Edward's. Their gazes locked for a moment before she smiled and gestured for him to join her.

He dashed quickly over to where she sat, collapsing on the grass and laughing loudly. Her own musical laughter struck his ears mingling with his own in perfect harmony. Her hand lay in her lap, and he traced the skin along the back of it gently with one finger. He heard her breathe deeply and her heart rate increase in response to the simple contact, and he smiled.

The contrast between their skin was obvious in the direct light. The sparkling of her scars paled in comparison to the glow from his own unblemished skin. Edward had been young when he was changed, and his skin still retained the porcelain perfection that belonged to the young. What should have been the smooth expanse of Bella's arm was instead something that resembled a road map of crisscrossing lines.

_What happened to you?_

Edward could feel an ache in his chest building at his imaginings of all the possible scenarios that could have created these lines. None of them were pleasant.

_Why? I would have protected you from that. I would have died to save you from ever having to go through any of it._

Edward allowed his finger to traverse a path created by them upwards towards her elbow. Bella closed her eyes savoring the feel of his body so close to her own. She gently pushed herself down until they were lying side by side and snuggled into the crook of his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

They lay there unmoving on the forest floor for some time before either of them stirred, save to take in and release air from their lungs. He laid there, afraid to break the serenity of the afternoon. This was quite possibly the most perfect moment of Edward's existence. Slowly, he wound a stray strand of mahogany hair around one finger.

"Bella," he spoke softly into the still air that surrounded the two of them.

"Hmm . . ." Bella mumbled in response to him. Her eyes were still softly closed, and her cheek rested on his shoulder. Edward looked down at her and smiled. She looked so peaceful, for the first time. Bella could never achieve this kind of relaxation in her sleep. Her dreams plagued her too badly for rest.

He turned his body to face hers, transferring the weight of her head onto his arm in a fluid movement that caused her the least amount of jostling possible, and they came to rest with their faces mere inches apart on the mossy ground. He could feel an unseen force pulling him closer to her like a planet being inevitably sucked into its sun. Certain death, but irresistible all the same. For agonizing seconds, they hovered there in place, not quite fighting the urge to crash together, but not succumbing to it either.

After what might have been an eternity and may have only been a few ticks of a clock, their lips met for the first time. The sensation traveled down his body towards his feet like a wave of cold air hitting him from above. The kiss was gentle at first, but increased in fervor as Bella's hands wound their way around his body and pulled him closer. He couldn't fight her strength even if he'd wanted to, so he gave in easily.

Kissing Bella felt like coming home. Nothing had ever felt more right. He felt his body melt into hers, as the kiss deepened, until it became difficult to tell where Edward ended and Bella began. A part of Edward that had been missing for nearly a century snapped neatly into place, and all at once he understood what Jasper had been talking about when he'd said Alice had been the one to make him feel whole.

Edward's hands found their way into her hair, twisting into the brown locks until they were nearly wrapped in them. The most beautiful pair of handcuffs ever made. They separated breathless for a moment as he slowly untangled himself.

The sound of a twig breaking behind Bella's back caused both of them to jump to their feet and take a fighting stance. They whirled around to witness a beautiful young woman with bright red curls who couldn't have been much older than Bella, standing between two trees, her skin catching the glare of the sun and reflecting it back towards them coldly. The girl smiled, revealing brilliant white teeth, and the sun glinted off her skin like diamonds in the light.

Bella immediately began to back away, drawing air in quickly through her teeth and letting it out in a slight hiss. Edward could sense the malice in her stance and felt his body tense up suddenly in response.

"Victoria," she spoke softly, her eyes narrowing as she continued to move away.

"Bella," Victoria answered in response, stepping forward completely into the sunlight and continuing to smile. The way she moved reminded Edward of a wild cat stalking its prey, sinuous and slow. The distance between them closed slowly but surely as he was left standing in the middle of the two young women. "It's so good to see you again," Victoria continued speaking as she moved forward. "It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"Three months, I believe," spat Bella in response. "I could have sworn you were dead."

"Oh, well. You see that's the thing, I'm not that easy to kill. Besides, I was out of the house hunting when Dr. Cullen found you there." Bella's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, yes. I know exactly what happened. I could smell him all over the place when I returned, and I was able to track his scent here. And much to my surprise, here you are as well."

Bella had stopped backing away and was now firmly standing her ground. Her eyes narrowed again, focusing in on Victoria's advance. The two began to move in a circle as they approached each other.

Edward moved to intervene once again, but a sound behind him stopped him in his tracks. He turned slowly to see an unfamiliar face. Bella's head whirled at the same moment and recognition lit up her features.

"Laurent," she breathed.

"Hello again, Bella. Beautiful as ever, I see. And who is your friend here? Introductions, please." Amusement brushed his face. Edward moved towards Bella at the far side of the meadow, and they stood side by side, facing their opponents. He could feel the tension build in the air as they faced off.

"Well, Laurent, it looks like little Bella wants to play. I trust you remember this game. Play dead? Only this time it won't be for play my dear." Victoria smiled. "I owe you more pain than you will ever know. You have taken the one being in the world that mattered to me when you allowed James to be murdered, and your life will be the forfeit for it."

"James only got what he deserved."

Victoria lunged forward at Bella's words, closing the distance between them by half. She stopped herself before pouncing.

"You are not to speak his name again. You're not worthy of it," she hissed like an enraged cat, her halo of red hair trembling with the sudden movement of her body. The male came up behind her, always at the ready for an attack. Edward moved himself to guard Bella's left side from Laurent as they faced each other across the open space.

"James," Bella spoke slowly annunciating every syllable, "got what he deserved. He was nothing more than a parasite praying on those whom he imagined were defenseless, and you and Laurent are no better. The only thing I regret about the whole incident is that you two didn't join him."

As Bella finished her speech, Victoria threw herself across the space between the two of them, pouncing on Bella like a wildcat. Bella whirled about twisting and turning, throwing Victoria off balance and startling her with the speed of the movement. Edward made a movement to intervene as a protective urge rushed over him, but a hand on his shoulder hindered him from movement. He turned to see the male vampire with a firm grip on his collarbone. He reached up to remove the hand from its place and felt a resistance.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, young man. I wouldn't get involved if I valued my head." He spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice. "That one is wild, and she has a grudge against the girl."

"Let me go," Edward spoke bluntly, his voice deepening with the rage he felt building up inside. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the two females struggled near the center of the clearing. Bella seemed to be holding her own against the redhead, so he focused his attention for the moment on the male impeding his progress. He turned to completely face Laurent and took in his expression. He smiled in what otherwise would have been a friendly manner, but given the circumstances, it held a tinge of malice to it.

Edward reached up, brushing the hand from his shoulder forcefully. "I wouldn't underestimate Bella if I were you, or myself either."

Laurent laughed, "Two children. You two children think you can take on two vampires who are at least three hundred years old."

"Well, if you don't let me go help her, you're going to find out exactly what I am capable of."

Laurent reached out towards Edward, and Edward knocked his hand away quickly. The two of them crouched down, growling at each other, and Laurent surged forward. Their bodies crashing together sounded like a thunderclap filling the open space. Edward moved quickly, and gained an advantage on Laurent from his sheer speed. Laurent was strong, but Edward nearly matched him in strength.

The two males struggled for a moment, Laurent swinging at Edward but missing as Edward dodged each and every blow. After a few minutes, Edward had him easily pinned against the ground at the edge of the clearing. Able to give his attention to the situation across the meadow, he looked up to check on Bella's progress with Victoria.

His eyes locked with Bella's for a moment, and Victoria took advantage of her distraction to clamp her razor-sharp teeth down on Bella's exposed neck from behind. Bella howled in pain, her eyes opening wide. She shook Victoria off her back, knocking her to the ground in the process and whirled around pouncing on top of her in a rage. Bella's eyes flared crimson as she growled at Victoria's body curled up on the ground beneath her. In one swift movement, she grabbed a handful of the carrot-colored hair pulling swiftly towards herself and causing Victoria's head and neck to part company.

An ear-piercing screech came from Victoria's lips as Bella continued to pull. She continued to struggle for a moment after Bella held her head up in the air. Bella dropped it like a stone, and it rolled gently away from her on the forest floor. Her breathing was rough and ragged as she sat there in a stunned silence.

Edward rose from the ground releasing Laurent in his shock at the sight before him. Laurent rose beside him, and the two of them stared in stunned silence as Bella stood kicking Victoria's head out of her path and walked towards them. Her hands were covered in Victoria's blood, and Bella's own blood seeped from the wound on her neck that was slowly beginning to heal. Bella looked down at her bloodstained hands, and her steps faltered. The fading crimson eyes rolled back in her head as her knees buckled beneath her and she crumbled into a heap.

Something inside of Edward died when he saw her fall. A new found hope suddenly crushed like a flower growing out of a city sidewalk by the feet of a passerby. His world slowed down to almost a stop as he moved towards her, hearing a crunching and crashing from the forest behind him, signaling Laurent's speedy exit from the scene. When he reached her side, he immediately reached for her wrist to feel for a pulse, but when his skin made contact with her own, the world faded to black. His body slumped next to hers, their hands still touching in the fading evening light.

********

End Note: Hope this wasn't too much for you. Hang in there with me, and you won't be disappointed. Chapter 16 is now in progress.

I wanted to say congratulations to the person who bought me for the Fandom Gives Back Auction to support Alex's Lemonade Stand, silvertwi. I know you read this fic, and I just wanted to say a BIG, public thank you.

For all the rest of you, here's a public service announcement. You can follow me on Twitter as cereuleanblue. My account is private to avoid bots, but I accept most follow requests, and I do get on and talk at length. See you there.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: What Dreams May Come

**A/N: My apologies for this chapter taking so long. I lost my way when I started writing it, and I had to take some time to find myself. I know it's short, but I felt like I had to get something out. If this starts out strange for you, keep going with it, and all will be revealed in time. Just know that things in this chapter may not be what they seem.**

**We will start in EPOV. Things will switch around a little bit, but that's going to be necessary for you to get the whole picture of what's going on here. **

**Warning: There are some graphic/violent scenes in this chapter. No sexual assault, but some physical/emotional violence.**

****************

"To sleep parchance to dream. Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep what dreams may come."

-_Hamlet_, William Shakespeare

************

EPOV

Edward heard the patter of rain falling on the foliage of the forest around him, the droplets trickling down from leaf to leaf and cascading to the ground below. He raised himself up on his elbows slowly opening his eyes to take in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that night had fallen around him. The sky was filled with a million stars that made him suddenly feel insignificant. It had been years since he had seen a night this clear in Forks.

His ears still registered the sound of rain falling around him even though no drops fell on his face as he stared up at the brilliant sight above him. Edward suddenly remembered the cause for his unconscious state and looked quickly at the meadow around him. There was no evidence that the fight had even occurred here earlier. Each leaf and flower existed in a state of untouched perfection and was as visible to his eyes as they would have been at noon on a sunny day. They almost seemed lit from within, and their edges were traced with a faint glow.

Bella was nowhere to be seen. Edward quickly jumped up to a standing position opening up his senses to find some trace of where she could have gone. No trace of her unmistakable scent found its way to his nostrils as he drank in the damp night air, and no sound other than the patter of invisible raindrops found his ears.

He stared about himself in bewilderment. If he were to trust his senses, he would believe he was the only active thing within miles of here. No animals stirred in the trees, not even an insect crossed his field of vision.

"Bella?" The sound of his voice died in the distance without even an answering echo to comfort him in the normality of his surroundings. It was almost as if someone had created an exact replica of his last memory and placed him inside it, like an animal on display in a diorama at the zoo. He walked over to the tree line placing his hands on the trunk of the tree closest to him. He half expected it to crumble in his hands but was surprised to discover that it felt as real as any other tree he had ever leaned on in his life.

Edward peered through the moonlit trees for any sign of life, any trace of what might have happened to Bella, but he found nothing. The woods were as clean and perfect as they would have been if they had been created in the instant that he opened his eyes.

_Something's wrong here. _

His thoughts lead him to suspect something sinister at play, but he couldn't place his finger on what could be happening. Suddenly, from somewhere in the distance behind him, he heard a heart-wrenching scream that he would have recognized anywhere.

_Bella . . ._

Panic rose in his chest, and Edward spun on his heels, crashing through the forest sweeping limbs and branches from his path as he surged through the trees trying to find the source of the sound. His ears were opened waiting for the slightest clue about her location, but once again,5 there was nothing. He slowed his pace to a walk, taking in strange surroundings. After a few minutes of wandering, he stopped walking altogether.

_What is this place? I should have been practically in town by now._

Edward gave up trying to find his way through the thickening trees and simply sat on a fallen log resting his face in his hands.

_Bella, where are you?_

_Right behind you, silly._

He heard a familiar voice answering his unspoken question in his thoughts and slowly turned. Where only a moment ago had been trees standing upright was a clearing. He made his way there and noticed that something odd was making itself visible from between the branches that lined the edge of the clearing. He pushed the last of the branches out of the way to reveal a door -- a simple wooden door -- identical to the one that guarded the entrance to Bella's bedroom door. It stood here unassisted in the middle of the woods.

_Open it, Edward._

Bella's voice rang in his thoughts, and he felt his hand on the dull bronze knob of the strange door that lay before him. He slowly twisted it and pushed the creaking doors gently open on its hinges.

**********

Carlisle's POV

Carlisle reached the clearing first, though the others weren't far behind. Alice's vision had come suddenly alerting them to the fight going on in the meadow where Edward sought quiet from time to time, but he was unprepared for the sight before him as he came into the open.

Three bodies lay on the ground in various states of unconsciousness. The body of a female vampire lay headless near the edge of the grass, her head a few feet beyond. He could see that this was a fresh injury, no more than a few minutes old. Carlisle walked over to where the head lay, the eyes still open and looking around, and he instantly recognized it as a face from the house he left to burn in the desert.

_Victoria . . ._

His mind jumped back instantly to the moment when the door opened to the coven house in Phoenix, and this face smiled coyly at him from the other side of the threshold. Those eyes were full of a million deceptions, as she tried everything in her power to distract him from his purpose in arriving unannounced at the home of an old acquaintance.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he found when he finally made his way around her interference and found his way to the basement of the crumbling ruin of a house. The young girl that lay there nearly lifeless on the floor pulled at his heart in a way that he couldn't have imagined possible only a few moments before. That face was so like _hers_…

He shook his head to bring himself back into the moment. Here his skill as a physician was needed, because whatever had occurred here only moments before had left both his son and the girl unconscious on the ground. He gestured for Emmett to join his side, speaking slowly.

"Emmett, you and Jasper should attend to her," he gestured toward the lifeless body of Victoria, "before the parts of her body are rested enough to be able to rejoin themselves. Build a fire on the other side of the clearing from some dry branches. There are plenty in the woods here. You must burn her and quickly."

Emmett rose without a sound, merely nodding and Jasper followed him into the darkness of the trees beyond the edge of the meadow. He could hear the slight crunching sound they made as they swiftly moved across the fallen leaves that littered the ground, gathering branches and creating a quickly growing mound of wood opposite his position in the open space. Once he was certain that they understood his request, he returned to Alice to check on Bella and Edward.

Carlisle had already ascertained that the two were alive, but unconscious. This was most strange in Edward's case since, as a vampire, he was incapable of sleep, but Carlisle had seen an unconscious vampire before. He pulled back Edward's eyelids, studying the pupils there for some sign of what he was looking for. The honey colored irises danced back and forth wildly in their sockets, blindly drinking in their surroundings.

Carlisle turned to Bella next, prying her eyes open in the same fashion, taking care not to damage her more delicate tissues in the process. Her eyes, identically matched to Edwards in color, danced in the same strange rhythm. He took a step back, studying them carefully and noting the movements of their lids in perfect synchronization. Alice stood nervously in the background, unsure of how to help.

"It must be strange for you my dear, not to know what's going to happen. You can't see them at all can you?" He looked over at his adopted daughter.

"No," she shook her head gently from side to side.

"It's alright, I think. He's not exactly unconscious, and neither is she. They both appear to be in some sort of dream state, almost a trance."

Alice looked at him puzzled, her eyes clouding over as she considered the implications. "So they're not sleeping?"

"I don't think Edward is capable of sleeping, at least I've never met the vampire who was, but we are capable of waking dreams -- trances. You are familiar with them yourself. When your visions come to you, they can drown out the rest of the world. They are in a similar state, only much deeper than I've ever seen before."

"She's been bitten, Carlisle. The wound on her neck is already healing, but it's there. What should we do?"

"Nothing. She's already has so much venom in her system that more may not make any difference. Her body has built up a tolerance to it. She may come through this the same as she was before, or she may transform and become one of us. It's too early to tell. We should get them back to the house at least, so that we can keep them safe until they come out of it. Do you see anything yet?"

Alice stared into space for a moment before shaking her head again. "Nothing. They have a decision to make, a very important one, but I don't think either of them knows or understands it yet. When they have decided, then I will be able to see the outcome. Until then, I'm blind."

*****

EPOV

The door before Edward creaked slowly open revealing the strangest sight. Instead of what should have been the continuation of the forest around him, there was a room on the other side. The floorboards were worn and splintering in several places. It was night here as well, and the moonlight streamed in through the single window placed high on the wall before him. The room appeared empty and held the same absence of smell and sound as the trees around him had since he awoke.

_Awoke? Why was I asleep? I can't sleep, and I certainly can't dream. But, what other explanation could there be for this…_

Edward was tempted to pinch himself to determine if this was all some sort of a waking dream. It would have to be, as there was no possibility that he could be asleep right now. He hadn't slept in ninety years, didn't even remember what it felt like to be unconscious. Those years when his body had required its nightly rest were fuzzy and faded in his recollection, and the sensation that he had of being bodily transported to some alternate reality seemed foreign to him.

He contemplated his options for a moment. He could choose to go through the door and explore the room that lie beyond or stay here in this place devoid of any living thing save the trees. He weighed his decision carefully for several moments, torn about the best course of action, before deciding to simply step through the door.

***

Alice POV

Suddenly, the world slowly stopped around Alice as she rode in the passenger seat of Emmett's Jeep through the muddy terrain at the edge of the forest. They had just finished loading the apparently unconscious bodies of Edward and Bella into the back seat, strapping them in with seatbelts until it looked like some twisted version of _Weekend at Bernie's_, and taken off at full speed through the trees using the path that provided the least resistance to the hulking automobile.

One moment, she was watching the trees whip by the window, the next she was staring into an empty room washed in moonlight. Edward's form slowly faded into her vision along with a huddled mass of rags lying in a puddle on the floor. As quickly as it had come, it vanished. Edward had obviously made a decision, but it couldn't have been the final decision she was waiting for. She'd seen only a momentary glance of the immediate future; no clue was provided as to the ultimate outcome of the course that things were going to take.

She pulled open her phone, hitting the speed dial button for Carlisle. When she heard the line click open on the other end, she spoke.

"Carlisle, I've seen them…"

He interrupted her in mid-sentence. "Are they awake?"

She glanced at the pair still out in the back seat of the Jeep, "No, but things are still fuzzy. I've seen his immediate future, because Edward has made some small decision. But nothing final has been decided. He still doesn't even know what he will have to choose between."

"Call me if you see anything more before we reach the house." Alice heard the phone call end and slid the phone back into her pocket.

***

EPOV

Edward peered through the open door into a room filled with a single beam of silvery moonlight that came pouring through a tiny window mounted high in the wall before him. He backed away walking around the door to examine the far side. Nothing was there except the continuation of the forest, trees upon trees without an apparent end. Walking back to the door, he took inventory of the vision before him. Simply a room, devoid of all furniture filled with a single brilliant shaft of moonlight that filtered down through the window mounted high in the wall opposite him. The corners were filled with shadows made all the more dark in their contrast to the silvery light that danced along the floor in the center of the room.

He stepped inside gingerly, testing the floorboards with each step into the confined space. He was honestly worried that all of this would simply fade into nonexistence in a few moments, leaving him falling through endlessly through space. He'd been contemplating the existence of this place and his arrival in it for quite sometime as he wandered through the woods and studied the door in the forest. He'd concluded that either he'd fallen through the rabbit hole and woken up somewhere in Wonderland, or he was dreaming. It had been over ninety years since Edward could remember dreaming, and his recollection of his human life was murky at best. The ability to recall any of his dreams had escaped him years ago, so the fact that the laws of the physical world that he'd grown so used to didn't apply anymore made him feel disoriented and confused. He refused to take anything for granted, including the fact that the ground before him would even exist by the time the weight of his foot rested upon it.

Edward stood here in the middle of the floor for some moments, studying the walls that surrounded him on all four sides now. Except for the door he had used to enter, there were no other entrances or exits to the room. He stopped turning and looked at the floor, examining the worn and splintering planks that comprised the floor beneath his feet, when a sound from the far corner of the room drew his attention to the deep shadow there.

A crumpled pile of clothes had appeared, or been there all along, lying in a heap in one of the darkened areas of the room. Suddenly it shifted exposing a deathly pale arm lying motionless on the floor. Suddenly, he recognized the skin, covered in freshly healed scars rather than the white, sparkling tissue that he'd grown accustomed to seeing daily for the past week.

"Bella," he called her name aloud and rushed to her side, reaching out to touch brush the hair that covered her face away, but his hand passed through her like a ghost. He tried again to touch her, but in vain. She was nothing more than a mist, and his attempts to attract her attention were unsuccessful. She moved slightly and moaned obviously in a great deal of pain. Her form was thin, nearly emaciated, and her hair lay in a puddle around her, limp and lifeless. She looked like nothing more so than a corpse.

_Am I dead? A ghost? Is this heaven or hell? _

Edward had always believed that he was damned to hell since his rebirth as a vampire, and he could imagine no worse punishment than to have to sit here and watch Bella suffer for all eternity, unable to do anything about it. He sat on the floor next to her determined to be close to her as possible. If he were unable to help her, he would at least be here beside her for as long as would be allowed. He sat there listening to her slow, unsteady breathing for sometime. He lost track of the minutes or hours that passed, but the moon still shone through the window though the angle had shifted, when he looked up to see an unfamiliar face entering the room.

The young man was strongly built, with a single lock of blonde hair tied back with a leather cord that hung down his back. He strode across the room purposefully headed straight for the corner where Bella lay unconscious. His eyes passed straight through Edward as if he didn't even exist.

Edward recognized the crimson hue that lit his irises immediately, scrambling to his feet in an attempt to place himself in the other vampire's path and block his access to Bella. His attempt failed, and the sensation of another person walking through his body was disorienting. It took him a moment to come to his senses and realize that the young man had passed completely through him with no more resistance than thin air would have offered.

He bent over Bella's crumpled form, turning her over abruptly and rising. He nudged her gently at first with the toe of his boot, and when she didn't waken immediately he planted a sharp kick in her side. Edward heard the air escape from her lungs in a rush from the force of the impact. His heart leapt into his throat, and he swallowed hard attempting to quell the venom that futilely filled his mouth.

"Bella, wake up," the muscular, blonde vampire called out in a sing song voice as Bella recoiled from the blows her eyes fluttering open with a groan. She curled into a ball on the floor moaning and writhing from the force of the impact. Her hands were clasped around her waist, and with a great deal of effort, she pulled herself slowly up to a seated position on the floor.

"James," she answered him breathily, drawing her knees up under her chin and wrapping her arms around them. She looked down at the floor between her feet, a broken doll sitting on the rough wooden floor.

He knelt down next to her, placing a single finger under her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. She turned her face away sharply, returning her gaze to the splintering floorboards. "Now, Bella. What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see me?" He grinned as she shrugged away from him, pulling herself backwards until she was tucked into the corner as tightly as possible, like an animal shrinking away from its captor.

"Oh, mi amore. What's wrong? You don't look well." She looked up at him quizzically, unaccustomed to kindness for quite some time. He lifted one of the hands from her knees and traced the one of the pink lines that laced near her wrist. "You must be hungry. Just look at how thin you've gotten. We must feed you." He smiled, pulling her hand to his lips to plant a small kiss on the paper-thin flesh lined with a spider's web of veins, before sinking his teeth into the flesh there. The blood welled up and dripped down her thin wrist and arm as she screamed in agony.

Edward fought the urge to rip James' head from his neck, knowing it would do no good, but watching Bella go through this was like dying all over again. However, it was worse this time around, because he was aware of each and every agonizing second of the process. He clawed at his shirt, digging his fingers into the material and screaming along with her. He opened his eyes just in time to witness as James forced Bella to drink the blood that streamed down her arm in a thick, red trail. Tears streamed down her face while she reluctantly lapped at the liquid taking no more than he required her to.

"Good girl. Now isn't that delicious?" Bella's tears mingled with the blood that had smeared on her face creating a watery red stain that trickled down her cheeks.

"Stop, please stop," she begged him through the tears, her breath coming in sobs as she gasped for air.

"Alright, my dear. I think you've had enough," he smiled down at her as he rose gracefully to his feet in a motion so swift it took all of Edward's vampire senses to even detect the motion at all. "Don't cry, Bella. I promise to be back soon." He turned his back on the two of them and strode from the room. His laughter echoed from beyond the door, that he shut behind him.

Edward heard the sound of a key in a door, and crawled over to where Bella lay in a curled into a knot in the corner. She wiped her tears on the tattered shirt that clung to her too slender shoulders. For the first time, he saw the chain that connected to one of the pipes running the length of the baseboard next to her. Her ankles bore a pattern where the skin had been rubbed red and raw, friction burns from the movement of chains on her foot and leg.

Edward longed to hold her, to comfort her and wipe away the blood-tinged tears that streamed down her face. Bella sobbed silently, the torrent washing the red stains from her cheeks, returning her face to some semblance of the one he'd seen smiling back at him in the meadow. This face couldn't be the same one. They looked similar, related, like sisters, but not the same. This face was thinner, more haggard, and older.

Suddenly, Edward felt guilty. Guilty for not knowing all this time, guilty for making her remember this torture with his mere presence. He would have removed himself from her life entirely if he had known what kind of memories his skin, his scent, his very being dredged up from the bowels of her mind. If there was anything he could have done to make her forget this, he would have done it immediately, even if it meant ending his life.

He supposed that didn't matter now, since he was already dead, and hoped that this Bella was merely a vision, a special torture the Devil had created simply to inflict the maximum amount of pain possible onto Edward. He reached out to touch her face, in a final attempt to offer some comfort, and to his surprise, his fingers found purchase in the curls that curtained her off from the world.

She recoiled at his touch drawing even further into herself. Her eyes peeked through the gaps in the mahogany sheet that separated them, chocolate pools run through with threads of gold lined with brilliant red blood vessels irritated from the tears she still shed.

"Who are you?" She spoke in little more than a whisper, her voice trembling.

"You don't recognize me? It's me, Edward," he reached out for her hand, and she jerked it away sharply.

"Edward? I don't know any Edward." She looked confused, but she pulled some of the hair from her face. "Your eyes, I've never seen anything like them before. They're yellow. Who are you?"

"A friend," he replied gently.

Bella laughed harshly, "A friend? You're one of them aren't you? I can see the way your skin sparkles in the moonlight. Did James send you?"

"No," he answered her gently. It broke his heart to hear her voice so hurt, so untrusting. "He doesn't even know I'm here."

"You're going to get in a lot of trouble if he catches you down here. Don't you know what he did to the last one of you he caught down here?" She cringed remembering, "I could hear the screams through the window, and the heat from the fire they threw him into, I could feel it all the way down here."

"Bella, come with me. Let me get you out of here," he put one hand on her shoulder, and she shrugged it away.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she almost looked angry. "If you want to kill me, you'd better just do it here and get it over with. Probably be better off if you did."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why don't you do me a favor and just get this all over with?" He stared at her shocked at the implication of her words.

"Bella, I . . ." She interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Just leave me alone then," she replied sharply, standing up in the corner. "Just leave!" She screamed at him, and the world faded to black around him.

Edward stood in the void, confused and alone. He could hear her sobs in the distance. They seemed to surround him, come at him from all sides, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He sat on the ground, now covered in sand, clapping his hands over his ears to try to drown out the sound, but it soaked into his core, filling up all the cracks in his long dead heart.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 - Waking Dream

Disclaimer - No copyright infringment intended. All things Twilight belong to SMeyer.

Special Thanks to Britpacksuccubus my beautiful, brilliant beta babe.

"Well, I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind,

I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time,

I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon,

I guess there's nothing I can do…"

~ _Kryptonite, _3 Doors Down

Carlisle POV

Carlisle surveyed the room in front of him, the soft hum of machinery filled the air. Bella lay as silent as the grave on the hospital gurney next to where he stood, monitors beeping gently to match the rhythm of her steadily beating heart. She was resting quietly now, but she hadn't always been so still during the course of the past two days. She had alternated between periods of quiet rest and episodes of thrashing, screaming fits of terror.

More than once, Carlisle had been obliged to administer sedatives to calm her speeding heart out of fear that it would cause a heart attack, but Bella's body was resistant to the effects of the medication. Her heart sped on like a stampede of wild horses. Only during the hours when she lay in this coma-like state did its pace return to normal.

Her bed took up one large corner of what, until recently, had been the Cullens' living room. The furniture had been hastily shuffled around to make room for the equipment that Carlisle had delivered from the hospital. Charlie agreed when the doctor suggested that leaving Bella here would be the best course of action. He seemed to have an extraordinary amount of faith in the doctor's opinion, but he had only just been persuaded to go home for a shower and a change of clothes. Charlie had sat faithfully by Bella's side for nearly forty hours straight, sleeping in the chair adjacent to the bed, only leaving to eat what little bit of food Esme had been able to force him to eat for sustenance.

It had been simple to come up with an explanation for Bella's state. It fit with her clumsy nature that she would have fallen down the Cullens' stairs. It made for a perfect excuse, and after a few x-rays taken with the portable diagnostic machinery, Charlie was satisfied that there was nothing medically wrong with her. Carlisle had Alice's assurance that Bella would wake when she was ready, and that Edward, who was lying in a similar state on Alice and Jasper's bed only a floor above, would wake with her. Until then, all they could do was wait.

The silence was broken by a frantic beeping from the machinery, followed by a sharp scream ripped raw from Bella's throat.

BPOV

Bella woke with the coarse floor boards pressing roughly into the skin of her cheek. She pushed herself up on one aching arm surveying the room around her, the room that had haunted her nightmares for the past three months, the one place on Earth she never wanted to be again.

_Carlisle burned this place down. I watched him do it. This can't be real …_

She traced a single finger down one of the seams between the panels of wood beneath her; the sensation of the boards grazing the pad of her index finger sent a shock to her already addled brain. She looked around, confusedly taking in her surroundings. The smell of death surrounded her, and this more than anything else convinced her that this was real. She would never forget that smell, not for the rest of time.

Her arms were covered with fresh marks, the fading scars replaced by harsh red lines that mushroomed out of the too pale flesh. It was as if the past three months had been a hallucination, something induced by the venom pulsing through her veins and her fervent wish to be free of this place, even if that freedom meant death.

"Bella," she heard her name being called from a distance, muffled through the door that stood in the frame in front of her. She recognized the voice in an instant, and her heart cracked at the sound of it. She had never heard any one voice filled with such despair, like every reason for living had been taken away from him. She stood instinctively, ignoring the screaming of her muscles from every tiny movement and groped for the handle of the door in the semi-darkness that surrounded her.

She found the handle after a moment of fumbling and twisted it, flinging the door open with a crash against the wall behind it. What lay beyond staggered her and caused her to freeze in her tracks for a moment. Where she had expected to find the familiar staircase of worn boards that James had used on his little visits to her dungeon, she found instead nothing, a gaping abyss.

The inky darkness was so thick that for a moment Bella felt as if she were blind, but a quick glance at the floor beneath her feet dispelled this illusion. She tip toed to the edge of the door frame peering out into the black void, looking for something, anything to let her know that she hadn't completely lost her sanity. She saw nothing . . .

Bella was on the verge of walking away and returning to her place on the floor of the room when she heard the most mournful sound she'd ever experienced in all her life. The scream ripped a hole in her heart and tore away all her trepidation. Bella ran for the door and plunged herself into the black.

EPOV

Edward sat there in the darkness, when the sound of Bella's weeping suddenly stopped. The howling cries had gone on for what seemed like hours before abruptly ending. The sound had soaked into him, become a part of his being, and when it was gone a little part of him died. The keening had been the last tie he held to Bella, and now he was truly and completely alone.

"Bella," he cried into the gloom that surrounded him, and every ache that his soul felt at the absence of her voice found its way into his own voice. The sound of it reverberated around him for a moment before dissipating, leaving him forlorn.

He looked around himself for the first time in awhile. He still sat upon his island of sand surrounded by a sea of nothing, and he felt utterly lost in both body and soul. He raked both hands through his hair, tousling it into a mop of copper curls, before dragging them down to cover his face. The silence weighed heavily on his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He gasped for a lungful of air and released it in a blood curdling scream. It faded away leaving the stillness undisturbed in its wake. It surrounded him again, wrapping around his body like a blanket bent on suffocating whatever remained of his being. He lay back down on the ground curling into a tiny ball and hugging his knees to his chest when his world came back to life again.

"Edward?" her voiced cried out to him, and his heart gave an involuntary twitch in his chest. "Where are you?" The sound of it echoed in the vast shadow that enveloped his existence. It seemed to come from every direction at once, surrounding and filling the emptiness both inside and outside of him. He stood up, walking to the edge of his tiny island of sand, and peered into the unknown as he contemplated his next course of action.

A tiny voice tinkled inside his mind, "It's a leap of faith, Edward. You have to decide if you're ready to take the jump and risk the fall."

_Alice . . ._

"No, not Alice. I have been called many things by many people – fate, destiny, serendipity – the name matters not. My purpose is still the same." The voice was calm and even, without any trace of emotion. It held the tone and cadence of Alice's voice without any of her personality and charm. "You have a decision to make, a choice that will guide not only your future but Bella's as well."

"And what decision is that?" he questioned the air slightly above him, unsure of where to direct his response.

"If you want to keep her, you have to be willing to lose her," the voice replied enigmatically. "What if I told you that you were meant to be the instrument of her death? If you choose to remain a part of her life, it will end at your hand. Or you can walk away now, and she will live to be a hundred."

Edward contemplated the choice, thinking the decision would be easy. He would gladly rip himself limb from limb to allow Bella to live. His own existence had mattered so little to himself before she had arrived in it. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut short.

"Not so fast. You shouldn't decide before you know all the repercussions of your choice. Would you like to see her future without you?"

His vision swam for a moment, clearing slowly to reveal a scene similar to the one he had just witnessed. Bella chained, hand and foot, to the stones of an ancient wall, sobbing silently into her arm as she lay in a heap on the dusty floor. The door next to where she lay opened, and she looked up revealing a much older version of the face he knew. Tiny lines had etched their way into the skin around her eyes and mouth, and her eyes, once beautiful and vividly full of life, now hung dull and lifeless in their sockets, full of surrender and defeat.

Edward felt a breeze and the vision swirled like smoke in the wind before changing form. Bella now stood beautifully resplendent in midnight blue satin, her eyes closed as she took in a deep breath of air. She looked up suddenly, revealing a pair of burningly brilliant crimson eyes. The breeze blew again, and her form dissipated. His simple decision was suddenly not so simple anymore.

"So what shall it be? Life or death?"

He considered the options carefully. Would Bella rather spend her life imprisoned or her death with Edward as a vampire? He wasn't sure she would be able to handle either situation.

"Why is this my choice to make? Isn't it Bella's decision?" he spoke once again to the invisible presence.

"Bella has her own choices, but the outcomes are the same. There are only two possible futures for her. Eternity as a vampire with you or a lifetime of imprisonment followed by an eternity spent alone." The voice was matter-of-fact. "The final result depends on both of you. You can only choose to meet her halfway, but in agreeing to either fate, you have cemented yourself into your role. There is no turning back."

A door appeared hovering slightly above the sand, and the voice spoke again, "The way back to your old life lies through that door. All you must do is turn the handle and you will return to your former existence. You and your family will continue on into perpetuity without Bella, or you can take the plunge knowing the consequences …"

The voice faded into nonexistence, leaving Edward standing there alone. He looked at the door for a moment before turning to face the darkness. Without so much as a backwards glance, he strode to the edge of the sand and leapt out into the unknown.

BPOV

Bella wandered in the darkness for some time. The only thing that kept her from feeling completely blinded was the sight of her hands stretched out in front of her as she searched for obstacles.

She called out for Edward for awhile after she made her way through the door into the unknown, but his voice had eluded her since that time. She was beginning to wonder if she was destined to wander for the rest of her existence alone in this shadow, when she suddenly spotted something in the distance. It started out as a tiny speck off in her field of vision, but as she approached it, it grew into a tiny island of sand floating in the surrounding abyss.

She made her way over carefully but quickly until her bare feet felt the cool sand sifting between her toes. She lowered herself cautiously to the ground, finally feeling something tangible beneath her. It helped to bolster her confidence slightly. She looked at the earth beneath her body for a moment before looking up. Much to her surprise, a silvery sheet of glass had appeared in the center of the tiny circle of sand.

She stood, walking towards it slowly, and when she finally reached it, Bella brushed her fingers softly against the surface, ensuring it was real and not just a figment of her imagination. When her hand left the glass's surface, a familiar voice surprised her from her focus on the mirror.

"What do you see?" She thought she recognized it at once.

"Alice?" she questioned the air around her head.

"Not Alice… but my name doesn't matter," it cut her off before she could voice her unspoken question. "I know you very well, even if you don't know me. Go ahead, look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Bella lined herself up before the mirror and glanced at her reflection. What she saw there was predictable, exactly what she would have expected, save one detail. Her eyes shone a glowing crimson in her face. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear her vision, but the color remained unchanged. Bella backed away from the mirror slowly, unable to tear her eyes away from the picture before her.

"You know your destiny, Bella. It's only a matter of time before this is you." The voice spoke to her in calm tones that contrasted her own panic at the sight.

"No! Not if I can avoid it," her reply was sharp, nearly yelling.

"There is no avoiding it. I can promise you that, if nothing else. You will be a vampire, either sooner or later. The choice is yours." The world settled into silence around her as Bella's mind raced. She had known the possibility of this future existed for some days now, but hadn't yet taken the time to wrap her mind around it. Vampires were the anathema to her entire existence, everything she never wanted to be. She stared at her reflection, drinking in the poison that it provided for her mind.

"You do have a choice, you know," the voice began again, startling Bella from her meditation.

"A choice of what?" she snapped back.

"A choice of timing and circumstance," the reply started the gears turning in her mind, but before she was able to speak the voice began again. "Timing is everything . . . You can chose to hasten your transformation or to hold it off for decades. The outcome hinges around a single thing. "

"Who?" She stood quickly pacing around the small island of sand.

"Edward …" A one word answer. That one word held a million connotations for her. The sound of his name brought to mind his face and the way it had looked the last time she remembered seeing him. "You can choose an eternity with him or a lifetime without him. Either way, you will be what you most despise."

Bella froze, clasping her hands in front of her. Her fingers threaded around each other slowly, and the only sound that flowed through her ears was the sound of the air that rushed into and out of her lungs with each and every breath.

_Breath…_

She took in a deep lungful of air, letting it out slowly. Which each molecule that left her chest, she let a little piece of the world she had always known go. Some part of Bella had known that since the day she had been delivered from James's special brand of torture, there was no going back to a normal existence. Each and every experience she had had since that time only served to confirm it even more. She realized there was no turning back for her now, so Bella did what she always did when confused, made a decision and stuck with it regardless of the consequences.

The beeping of the monitors slowed to a normal rhythm, as Bella's eyes slowly fluttered open. Carlisle rushed to her side.

"Bella, Bella. This is Dr. Cullen, can you hear me?" he spoke calmly, but she could hear the edge of concern in his voice. She pushed herself up slightly on her elbows looking around her at the unfamiliar room. She recognized elements of it as belonging to the Cullen's living room, but the medical equipment here made it seem alien.

"I can hear you," she replied and almost immediately heard footsteps on the hardwood floor above her.

A voice she recognized as Alice called down from the floor above. "Carlisle, it's Edward. He's awake!"

Carlisle tucked another pillow behind Bella's back to help support her as she attempted to sit up. "Take it easy, Bella. You've been in bed for almost two days now."

"Two days?" Bella looked around her confusedly. "What day is it?"

"Tuesday afternoon. When we found you and Edward unconscious in the meadow on Sunday, we brought both of you back here. The two of you have been out since then."

Bella rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of everything. She leaned back on the pillows and breathed in deeply, concentrating on the most recent events that her mind could recall. She was interrupted by an intruding thought.

_Bella… is that you?_

Edward's voice rang inside her mind.

_Edward?_

_Oh. My. God._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Note to readers: The last two chapters were set in a dream. I apologize if there was any cause for confusion. Bella and Edward's decisions will be revealed in time.

Thanks to Britpacksuccubus and DanellD, the two bestest betas on the face of the planet.

**

Bella sat quietly contemplating the events of the past few days on the well-worn couch in Charlie's living room. The sound of rain pattering against the roof filled her ears, but other than that she was surrounded by silence. More things had happened than her brain was capable of processing at the moment, and at times she found herself staring off into space, her thoughts confused by the tangle of turns her life had taken in the span of only a few hours.

Her last memory before the blackout was of Edward. The feeling of his skin on hers, cold but with a sizzle of electricity from the contact, occupied her thoughts. It seemed like eternities passed them during those moments on the grass, surrounded by the newly blooming flowers. Her world changed in that moment. The thought of eternity alone had scared her, and the idea that she would spend it as a predator, a danger to all she held dear, terrified her. But Edward represented a different future, one in which it was possible to reconcile all the positive and negative aspects of her destiny into a livable situation.

The time she had spent unconscious left her with hazy memories of dreams, snippets of sights and sounds she couldn't make sense of: Alice's voice speaking out of the darkness, an island of sand, a door in the middle of nowhere. No matter how much time she spent trying to piece it together, she wasn't able to come up with a single scenario that held the disparate images together. She decided it was never going to make sense and to file it away in her mind as another of many nonsensical dreams.

However, the aftermath of the dream was not as easy to dismiss. Carlisle had his theories about the cause. It seemed that the infusion of venom had driven her even closer to becoming a vampire than before. According to Carlisle, her body was nearing some kind of breaking point, a point of no return, after which there would be no hope of her remaining human for any length of time.

Her body temperature had dropped nearly eleven degrees and was now hovering somewhere around eighty-seven. Her eyes had taken on more of a ruby hue, even though they still held their golden tone overall. Her senses were heightened, and her nerves were constantly on edge. The slightest sound, the crack of a stick or the rustling of leaves in the wind, set her on alert, like her body was prepared for attack at any moment.

Stranger still was the fact that Edward had regained consciousness at the exact moment that Bella had. It seemed that the two of them had been locked in some sort of symbiosis during the time she was unconscious. Now their minds remained connected, as if they were broadcasting on the same frequency. Bella still remained unable to discern thoughts from the other Cullens. She was able to gain some sense of their emotions, an impression of their intentions, but it mattered little since she could hear them through Edward's thoughts whenever they were together. They could even communicate over a distance of some miles, although not as far apart as they were at the moment. The distance between the Cullens' home and Charlie's little white house was too great.

Bella had remained at home as much as possible since waking, and Charlie hadn't forced her to go back to school yet. However, it had only been four days, and she was certain that it wouldn't be long before she would have to return. She wasn't sure she could face Edward again. She had only tried once, but the invasion of his thoughts into her mind was a little more than she could handle. Even though she had grown used to hearing other's inner voices, she had never known anyone who could hear hers, and it was all a little too intimate for her at the moment.

Currently, she was curled up on the sofa under the pretense of trying to read a book, but the book had fallen unheeded on top of the afghan that covered her legs. Charlie had offered to stay home with her to keep her company rather than go on one of his regular fishing outings with Harry Clearwater, but Bella had urged him to go. There hadn't been a moment when she'd been alone in days. Charlie wasn't normally a hoverer, but nearly losing his daughter for a second time had been enough to turn him into one, at least temporarily.

Even Renee had arrived on a nonstop flight from Phoenix to Seattle, tearing into the driveway in front of Charlie's house in a rental car that was nearly on two wheels in her haste to be at Bella's side. She'd gotten to Forks just in time for Bella to wake, and showed up at the Cullens' only minutes after Bella and Edward had regained consciousness. Of course, Charlie and Renee didn't know about Edward.

Renee had only just been convinced that it would be alright for her to return to Phil on Friday, and she reluctantly left Bella with the reassurance that she would be back if Bella needed anything. Already, she had called Bella's cell phone fifteen times since her return, and Bella was expecting another call at any moment since it had been nearly two hours since the last time they spoke.

All these things swam around inside her mind, and she felt as though her brain could barely contain them all. She was mulling them over for what must have been the millionth time when she heard a knock at the door. She looked up surprised, probing the thoughts behind the door and sensed a familiar presence.

"Bella?" Jacob's voice called through the door. "I know you're in there. Charlie told me you were home." _And that he didn't want you sitting at home alone._

Bella reluctantly pushed herself up off the couch and made her way to the front door, twisting the lock and turning the handle to allow the door to open. Jacob beamed at her from the front steps as he brushed rain droplets from his jet black hair.

"Hi, Jake," Bella smiled at him, more out of politeness than any real sense of happiness at his presence. She felt a little put upon to have to entertain him when all she really wanted to do was be alone, but it wasn't his fault that Charlie was still worried about her well being. She couldn't blame Charlie for his concern; he was merely being a father the best way he knew how. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh," _Think of something, think of something. _Jacob paused for a moment, scrambling to come up with any excuse about why he would be at her door in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. It wasn't as if they were in the habit of hanging out, and it had only been a couple of weeks since the two of them had even met. _Just don't tell her that Charlie sent you…_

"Let me guess," she sighed. "Dad sent you?"

_Oh my God. How did she know that? _"Umm yeah," he brushed his hair back with one hand and looked down at the steps sheepishly. "Hope you don't mind, but I wanted to come and hang out with you. Really…"

Bella sensed the sincerity in his words. He had been looking for a good excuse to get into Forks for the past two weeks, since the day the two of them had met, but hadn't been able to get away from his father or his chores until now. And despite the slight romantic bent that his thoughts occasionally took, she realized that it was nothing more than his adolescent brain that led him in that direction. His true thoughts of her were more friendly than anything else. She smiled, amazed to find true friendship after all this time. The Cullens were friendly to her, but she was still unable to fathom their true feelings about her. She could feel their care for her, but it was always tinged with fear.

Jacob's head contained none of the constant alertness that always pricked at her thoughts whenever anyone else was around. The other students at school had always been on edge whenever she was around because she was the new student and none of them knew what to make of her. She was certain her disappearance for the past week coupled with her new association with the Cullens would do nothing to help that situation.

"I don't mind. I was actually hoping for some company," she lied. Bella actually had been hoping to spend the afternoon alone, as she'd done every afternoon since returning home, but she imagined there were worse things she could do with her time than spend it talking to Jake. "Want something to drink? I think we've got some pop in the kitchen." She smiled at Jake warmly, and he returned her smile.

"Sure, pop sounds great."

Bella turned and walked into the kitchen with Jacob following closely behind her. He leaned back on the kitchen counter, while she grabbed a cup from the cabinet above the sink, quickly filling it with ice and pouring the dark brown beverage over it. She handed it to him, and he tipped it back quickly, draining it in a couple of gulps. Bella laughed, sensing the nervousness in his actions.

Jacob placed the cup back on the counter a little too roughly, the force of the impact on the counter top causing it to crack. Bella was taken aback at the sound of the glass cracking beneath his fingertips and even more at the thoughts that immediately followed it.

_Oh, my God. I know she saw that. How am I going to explain that? Sam…_

At the mention of Sam's name, Jacob's thoughts went blank. She could tell he was still thinking from the expression on his face, but nothing of it was coming through, like his brain had suddenly gone on radio silence.

Bella was dumbfounded at this development. There had never been a person who was able to spontaneously block her at one moment when she'd heard their thoughts before. In fact, the only human she'd never been able to hear clearly was Charlie. Jacob had now officially become something of a mystery to her.

She quickly grabbed a dish towel, rushing over to the spot where the cracked glass was leaking liquid onto the counter top. "You alright?" she asked him, concern filling her voice. There was no way he hadn't cut his palm wide open on the shattered glass.

Jacob pulled his hand away from the cup quickly, the shards falling like tinkling rain on the counter. They scattered randomly, and Bella scraped them carefully into her open hand, dropping them into the trash can by the back door. She returned quickly to Jacob who had never answered her.

"Jacob? Are you alright? Did you cut yourself?" She grabbed his hand, turning the palm up to carefully examine it. She checked it thoroughly, but found nothing other than the smooth unblemished skin she would have expected from any young man. His hands were a little calloused, rough around the edges, but the skin was otherwise untouched.

He pulled his hand away from her gently. "I'm fine, Bella, really." He brushed his hair back again and grinned. "I guess I don't know my own strength."

Bella got the feeling that he knew exactly what his own strength was but decided against revealing his secrets just yet. "I'm glad you're okay. So, what do you feel like doing?"

"What were you planning on doing?" She could feel him relax as the conversation turned away from the awkward moment that had just passed between the two of them. There was obviously something he was hiding, but Bella realized there were so many things she kept concealed from nearly everyone in her life that she had no right to judge.

"Nothing," she laughed. "Want to watch a little TV?"

"Yeah, why not." He shrugged.

"Come on then," Bella led the way back into the living room, grabbing the remote as she flopped down onto the couch. Jacob perched at the opposite end, looking impossibly large sitting on the edge of the couch cushion.

"So, what do you want to watch?" Bella asked, motioning towards the television with her free hand.

"Oh," he looked towards the ceiling for a moment, thinking. "I think there's supposed to be a Matrix marathon on the Sci-Fi channel, starting this afternoon.

"Ok, I don't think I've actually watched that movie all the way through ever before. I'm not a big science fiction fan," Bella confessed.

"Neither am I," Jacob admitted, "but _The Matrix_ is actually pretty awesome. It's more action than sci-fi."

Bella turned the television on, using the buttons on the remote to guide her to the correct station. The movie had begun about fifteen minutes before. Jacob explained the parts Bella had missed, and the two of them turned their attention to the movie in earnest. He focused on the images dancing across the screen, his thoughts wandering. She felt herself relax as he sank back further onto the sofa. The two of them sat without speaking for some time, simply allowing the afternoon to drift on. Occasionally, one of them made a comment about the movie.

The hero danced across the television, freezing in more and more unlikely positions. To Bella's surprise, she was enjoying the movie, more because she sympathized with the hero than because she loved action movies. She could identify with someone, plucked out of their comfortable life, only to learn that there was a whole secret world that existed, carrying on side by side with the everyday world, with no one the wiser. Those who learned the truth found themselves forever changed or their lives ended completely. Bella began to cry silent tears for the life she had lost, the life of innocence and ignorance that she'd led all that time back in Phoenix. She should be a normal teenager, enjoying all the things that normal teenagers did like dances and parties, instead of living something that sounded like a nightmare out of a novel.

Jacob looked over at her and noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. He immediately slid over to where she sat on the couch wrapping his arm around her. Bella rested her forehead on his warm shoulder and let the tears flow.

"It's alright, Bella. Just get it out, it's alright." He patted her shoulder comfortingly. She knew he thought this was all because of the incidents of the past few months, and he was right in a way, but he had no idea to what extent.

Bella felt all of the tension draining from her body with her sobs, and she decided to just let it go. So out of her poured the exhaustion, the fears, the anxiety, the pressure, all the emotions she'd been holding on to so tightly. She let them all leave her body, as she broke down completely, and Jacob merely held her, allowing her to ruin his favorite t-shirt.

When she heard that thought, she pulled up suddenly, wiping the moisture from her cheeks. "Oh God, Jake. I'm sorry. I've ruined your shirt. I just . . ." she trailed off, unable to find the words to tell him what she was feeling.

"It's okay, Bella. Really. It'll dry." His hand still rested on her back, and when he noticed it, he pulled it away gently resting it on the couch. "I know you've been through a lot, moving to a new home, starting a new school, being in a coma…"

Bella giggled, Jacob's attempt at humor driving away some of the emotions that had wracked her body a few minutes before.

Jacob's face lit up at the sound of her laugh. "There, now that's the Bella I like to see. We should hang out more often. It's not everyday at the rez that girls break down crying at the sight of me. I mean, I know I'm good looking and all, but …"

Bella punched him playfully in the arm, "God, Jake!"

"No use trying to hide it. I know you're in love with me, but I'm way too young for you. Besides, it would break too many hearts in La Push if someone like you snatched me up." He flashed her a brilliant set of teeth before standing up. "Wanna get out of here, Bella?"

"And go where?" She raised one eyebrow at his question.

"Anywhere. When's the last time you got out of this house?"

His question hit a raw spot in Bella's psyche. She hadn't left the house in days, not even to go out into the yard. "I don't know. Why?"

"Just trust me. Okay?" He held one hand out to her to help her rise from the couch, she considered it carefully before taking it and following him out the door. Parked in the driveway next to her truck was the oldest motorcycle she had ever seen.

"Is that what you came here on?" She motioned towards the bike that sat perched on its kickstand against the concrete driveway.

"Yeah, wanna ride?" He looked at her mischievously, thinking that she would most likely say no. Most girls said no. They liked the way the motorcycle looked but never wanted to actually go for a ride.

"Charlie would kill me." She pondered his question for a moment, even though her first instinct was to say no. What was the worst that could happen?

_Well, you could die, but I guess that doesn't matter too much now does it? It's not like you're going over to the other side any time soon__,__ Bella Swan. I guess death by motorcycle would just be an early arrival at your eventual fate anyway. May as well go for it._

"Sure," she replied quickly before he could rescind his invitation.

He was taken aback by her answer.

_What? No one's ever actually said yes before. God, I hope I can drive this thing with a passenger…._

"So are we gonna go any time this week?" she asked him sarcastically, trying to goad him out of his surprise induced stupor.

"Yeah, sure," he grinned and climbed onto the bike, scooting up a little to make room for her on the back of the seat. "All aboard."

Bella hurried over to his side, slinging her leg over the seat of the bike and adjusting herself so that she was able to balance on the tiny piece of leather.

"Ready?" He turned his head to make sure she was settled, and she nodded. "Let's go then," and with one kick of his foot he started the motor roaring beneath them. Before she knew it, they were tearing out of the driveway and onto the pavement. The wind rushed past her face and blew her hair out behind her in a stream.

Bella had never felt anything like that kind of freedom in her life. Riding behind Jacob was like flying along the highway. Her heart pounded in her chest and thundered in her ears. She felt for the first time in a long time like she was truly alive. The two of them rode along in silence, enjoying the fresh air and rare sunshine beating down from above. She felt something break inside of her, a dam that had been holding back all the fear and bad memories. They washed over her in a flood but were quickly blown away by the wind.

When Jacob finally parked the motorcycle in the driveway back at her house, she felt like a new person. During the ride, she had decided that Monday she would be returning to school. No need to hide away from the world anymore. She knew now that she had nothing more to fear from any of it. After all the things she had been through and survived, high school was going to be a breeze.

"Thanks, Jake." She leaned over after dismounting and planted a kiss on his cheek. She giggled at the blush that crept along his face, barely visible on the bronze skin that lined it, knowing that the kiss for him was the same as when his sisters kissed him on one of their rare visits to Washington.

He laughed, "Thanks for what?"

"For helping me find my way," she replied and turned quickly to walk back into the house. "You'd better leave before Charlie gets home and sees that machine," she called over her shoulder and heard the bike roar to life once again. She unlocked the front door, let herself back in and made her way up to her room to brush her hair.

***

A/N: Yes, Jacob has reentered. And no I will not be pulling anything like a New Moon. Bella and Jacob are strictly friends.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A/N - I know some of you have been waiting a long time for this update. I'm sorry. I got really sick a few weeks back and stayed sick for over a month. I just recently started feeling well enough to even try to write, and then of course, I got writer's block because that's my luck.

And then one morning, I got a little review from someone named SouthrnBelle on Twilighted, and I decided to give it all a try again. To be honest, I don't think I would have even picked this up again without that review and a little Mexican food with ThatPanicGirlE, but I did. It was a real struggle at first. I wrote over a thousand words, that I wound up completely throwing away before I came up with this.

But here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

PS. The italics are things heard but not spoken if you catch my drift ;)

"I can see you falling away

No longer the lost, no longer the same

And I can see you starting to break."

-Breaking Benjamin, _Give Me A Sign _

_**Bella's POV**_

Bella strode into school on Monday morning, calm and collected, ignoring the stare and conjectures from the students who randomly littered the parking lot. They all knew where she'd been the past few days and why she'd missed the last week of school. That was just a way of life in a small town like Forks; everyone knew what happened almost as soon as it had taken place.

Oh, there were plenty of rumors spreading around about why she'd been at the Cullens' house when she collapsed. They ranged from her being friends with Alice and Rosalie to Bella dating Edward Cullen. She snorted when one kid walked by, thinking it must have been some kind of pale people's Super Sunscreen Convention around that place.

She hadn't expected anything else when she'd imagined what this morning would be like, so she was prepared for all of it. And she'd decided that none of it was really important. In the long run, what a bunch of teenagers thought about her didn't make a hill of beans, and after all of the things that she'd been through, this was relatively insignificant.

Jacob had inadvertently shown her all of that on Saturday. He hadn't intended to do anything more than be a good friend to her, but she felt like he'd given Bella her life back. She realized in that moment that she had only so much life left to live, no matter what her future might hold, and there was no need to waste the little bit of time she had left as a normal – well, mostly normal – teenage girl being afraid of what might happen to her. Victoria's attack had been the worst possible scenario that her mind could come up with, and she'd been able to survive that relatively unscathed.

Jacob had come back to pick her up on Sunday morning, riding the motorcycle, as soon as Charlie had vacated the house for yet another fishing trip with Billy. He took her out to what he said was his favorite spot on Earth, First Beach in La Push. The two of them sat and watched the waves roll in for the longest time, not speaking, just sitting in friendly silence. The time she spent with him was healing something inside her. Jacob filled a hole in her heart she hadn't known was empty, and the simple, uncomplicated friendship they had together was comforting.

Last night, she'd spent a lot of time thinking about the Cullens, especially Edward, and she'd made up her mind about a few things. Firstly, that she wasn't sure why, but the fact that they were vampires didn't really matter anymore. When she first met them, they'd represented something terrifying from her past that she never wanted to face again, but now, she knew them to represent everything that she wanted her future to be. They might be vampires, but they held the best qualities of what that species could be.

Secondly, she realized that, no matter how hard she might try to avoid it, something had inextricably linked her and Edward. She had wanted to avoid it at first, but living away from him for the past week had left a part of her soul missing. She didn't know what that meant for the two of them, and that scared her more than just a little bit. However, it intrigued her as well.

Third and lastly, she knew that she was going to need them. The Cullens, especially Carlisle, knew more than she could ever find out on her own about the situation she found herself in. She was going to need their help and guidance if she ever wanted to get through this intact. There was no one else she could safely trust her life with, and she couldn't have been happier about that simple fact.

Bella knew from the thoughts that crossed her path as she made her way towards her first class, that the Cullens had not yet arrived on campus. She could have picked Edward out in a crowd of millions, so she settled on preparing herself for the day ahead of her. She had missed so much during the past few weeks, that her major fear was being able to catch up to the rest of the class, even though Charlie had been picking up her assignments for the past week and bringing them home for her to work on.

She settled into her seat and began arranging her things on the desk in front of her. Slowly, the other students began to file in. A few of them murmured greetings to her, but most of them gave her a wide berth. After the events that had occurred during her short tenure here, there had been more than a few of them that "stumbled" upon the newspaper headlines regarding her disappearance in Phoenix. The general consensus was that Bella was trouble with a capital T whether she meant to be or not.

_I don't think she can help it; it's probably just bad luck. _Angela whirled around in her seat to avoid Bella's gaze when she noticed Bella turning in her direction.

Just before the bell rang, she felt him, a shining candle in the darkness. His thoughts came in so clear to her, making the others seem like a static-filled radio station in comparison.

_Edward?_ She reached out for him and felt him recognize her call at once.

_Bella, you're here. We missed you. I didn't know if you were ever coming back. Alice said you would, but I wasn't sure. _

She could sense the excitement he felt when he realized she was there, and she knew immediately that he'd hoped for her to be back every day. The emotion was so intense it brought an immediate smile to her face. She saw Alice stopping him from going to Charlie's house to look for her on the second day, telling Edward that Bella needed some time and space. She felt a pang in her heart for what she realized she had put him through, and she hoped that he could tell how sorry she was.

_It's okay, Bella. I know you just needed some time. I guess we both did. We've been through a lot in the past couple of weeks, haven't we?_

Bella smiled. He understood, and he wasn't angry or upset with her. Suddenly, she became conscious of the fact that when she and Edward were "talking," the rest of the world went quiet, but when the two of them weren't actively focused on each other, the buzzing in her head doubled, and she had to try hard to drown it out. Edward realized this and quickly blocked out most of the other people around him.

_Better?_ he asked her silently.

_Yes, much. Thanks. _She sent him a quick smile in her thoughts. It was odd for her to be able to communicate with another person in this way. She was used to the one-way transfer of information by now, but this constant exchange between the two of them was something she was going to have to adjust to. Of course, she realized this meant that the two of them would be doubly as powerful if they ever decided to work together. It was an interesting idea that she suddenly had to push out of her head because Mr. Mason was calling her name. It took her a moment to gather herself enough realize that he was merely taking attendance.

"Here," she managed to answer without drawing too much attention to herself, in spite of the delay in her response. Most of her classmates chalked it up to daydreaming and focused their attention on the remaining names being called. In the couple of weeks since she'd arrived, Bella had become enough of an oddity to be ranked with the Cullens on the to-be-ignored-at-all-costs list of most of the students of Forks High School.

Bella attempted, somewhat successfully, to focus on her classes for a majority of the morning. Thankfully, the novel they were reading for English was one of her old favorites, Pride and Prejudice, and she was familiar enough with Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy to be able to fake her way through most of the class. She offered up enough perfunctory answers to keep the teacher satisfied and gave what she felt was an acceptable answer to the brief essay question that he assigned during the second half of the class.

Bella muddled her way through the rest of the morning, somehow managing to not seem like too much of a freak. At her best, she was able to blend into the background. She figured it would be best if she just became as unobtrusive as possible around Forks.

As lunch neared, she reached out for Edward.

_Meet me in the cafeteria, okay?_

She heard his assent and breathed a sigh of relief. When the bell rang to dismiss them all, she made her way quickly to the cafeteria, bypassing the line and making a beeline for a table in the most remote corner of the room. She could sense Edward and the other Cullens growing closer by the second as they approached from the various corners of the campus that they currently occupied. Alice entered first, beaming a bright smile at Bella across the room as she entered the line to gather the props she would be using today on a lunch tray.

Bella could sense the relief that flooded from Alice at seeing her in the room. She hadn't realized how tense things had been between them all until that moment. Alice was quickly followed by Rosalie and Jasper who nodded politely in Bella's direction upon entering.

"Bella," she heard a familiar voice booming from near the entrance, and turned to see Emmett's enormous grin as he barreled across the room in her direction. Everyone in the room turned to see his enormous form move quickly across the room and scoop Bella from her chair in a huge bear hug. Bella laughed.

"Hello to you too, Emmett." She couldn't help but grin with his huge arms wrapped around her waist and lifting her up into the air. "You can put me down now."

Emmett placed her gingerly down on the floor, stepping back a foot or two. "Sorry, I'm just really glad to see you." He beamed down at her.

"So, no hard feelings about the other night?" she asked with a small giggle.

"Nah," he waved his hand dismissively. "It took a couple of days, but I got over being beaten up by a little girl. That doesn't mean I won't be challenging you to a rematch."

"You're on. Let me know when your ego is up for another beat down." Emmett laughed from deep in his chest.

"Will do." He noticed Alice motioning to him from across the room to join the rest of the Cullens at their accustomed table. "I gotta go, B. Alice is about to have a conniption over there, so I'll catch you later."

"Bye," Bella glanced over at them as Emmett made his way across to where they sat, and Alice gave her a friendly little wave. Bella returned it with a smile, settling down to wait for Edward. She felt him coming long before he ever arrived. He'd been held up immediately after his last class by a now very disappointed Jessica, who had just been turned down for yet another girl's choice dance by Edward Cullen.

Jessica sulked her way into the cafeteria first, glaring at the entire student body. When her eyes met Bella's, she shot her a look that would have made flies stop dead in midair before stalking over to where Lauren sat. Bella saw her talking animatedly and heard every word of her conversation through Lauren's ears.

_Stupid, ugly Bella Swan. What's she got that I haven't got?_

_Nothing, Jess. I swear, it's just because she's the new girl in town. All the guys here are just fascinated with her. Plus, you don't need Edward Cullen anyway. I mean he's good looking and everything, but he's really weird. All the Cullens are. He's just waiting on Dr. Cullen to adopt another kid so he can finally get a date. _

_Ugh, whatever. I'm asking Mike Newton anyway. He's much …_

Bella's attention was drawn suddenly away by the swinging of the double doors that marked the cafeteria entrance. She held her breath for a moment, knowing exactly who was there, without having to look. He entered, and the world went into slow motion.

_Hi_. She smiled.

_Hi. _ He returned the smile and glanced over to where his siblings sat, feigning their normal lunchtime activities. Alice motioned for him to join Bella at the secluded table that she had chosen, and he made his way over to where she sat.

Edward pulled out the chair next to Bella at the table and sat down gracefully without ever saying a word. They sat for a moment, not speaking. The silence was comfortable, though, not awkward like it had been before at times. She was glad to be near him again, and the rest of the room dwindled to a minor hum in her mind and ears for the time being.

"So." It was Edward who broke the silence. "Something's different about you. Did you do something with your hair?"

Bella laughed, "No, but it is looking particularly nice today. Thanks for noticing."

"Well, I guess we need to talk," Edward rested his hands on the table.

"About?" Bella looked at him questioningly, even though she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about.

"You know. Don't forget that I know you know." _ I can hear what you're thinking just as much as you can hear me._ He looked her directly in the eye as he spoke, and the words in his thoughts registered as clearly to her mind as the one's he merely thought.

Bella blushed, glancing at her hands twisted into knots on her lap. "Sorry. I just don't know what to say." _You know I don't know anything about the situation, and I know Carlisle doesn't really know either. We were linked together for the entire time we were unconscious, but I can't remember anything that happened. _

Edward looked at her. "I don't know either, but it doesn't matter how or why it happened. What matters is what we're going to do about it from now onward."

Bella blushed, hearing the unspoken question that lingered in his thoughts. She knew immediately how he felt about her. She could see the agonizing that he had done alone in his room and the millions of questions and concerns that he had pushed away because of one all encompassing emotion. Bella had known that Edward cared for her, but she hadn't known to what extent until she felt this wave of feeling coming from him. Suddenly, something inside of her mirrored it. Something that had been there all along, lurking just beneath the surface. She'd been aware of it at various times during the past couple of weeks, but now it was obviously announcing its presence.

She had pushed it away before because of her fears and disgust with the idea of being anywhere near a vampire, but now, when all those feelings were gone, it rose to the top. The two of them locked eyes, and they both knew exactly what each felt for the other.

_I love you. I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you and realized I couldn't hear what you were thinking, and now that I can, I love you that much more. I've never heard anyone's mind like yours, and trust me, I've heard thousands. I love how you worry about everyone in your life: Charlie, your mother, even us. I love that you know exactly what someone like Jessica over there is thinking, and still, you can't even find it in yourself to hate her. I don't think you're even capable. I've never seen anyone so strong and so delicate at the same time. I'm simply fascinated._

Bella felt the blood rise to her face. She wasn't used to hearing compliments about herself. What she had heard was usually more like proof that you really shouldn't eavesdrop, because you're bound to hear something that you won't like. She looked down towards the table, and Edward reached forward, lifting her chin with one finger.

"Don't be embarrassed," he spoke softly. "You should get used to hearing good things about yourself, because I plan on telling them to you for a good, long time."

"I don't think Jessica is really appreciating what's going on over here." Bella could hear the scream of frustration emanating from the other side of the room, and Edward laughed.

"She'll get over it."

Bella reached up, taking Edward's hand in her own. They rested their clasped palms on the table. Bella couldn't remember the last time she felt so much at peace, and she wondered what was coming to destroy her happiness.

A/N: This story has been nominated for a Silent Tear Award for Best Supernatural.  
Go forth and vote at silent-tear-awards (dot) webs (dot) com (slash) vote (dot) htm


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A/N: Ok, for this one I want to thank Breaking Benjamin and Sick Puppies for creating the best two albums ever in Dear Agony and Tripolar. If you've not heard them, you should most definitely go out and purchase them. They have provided more inspiration than I thought possible from two CDs.

I know this is a short chapter, but it's kind of a bridge into chapter 21, where there will be a lot of action. I thought you'd enjoy a little more Bella/Edward bonding from Edward's POV. Enjoy.

***  
"Daylight dies, blackout the sky.

Does anyone care? Is anybody there?

Take this life, empty inside.

I'm already dead. I'll rise to fall again."

Breaking Benjamin, _Give Me A Sign_

**Edward's POV**

Edward tossed his keys to Alice as he exited the cafeteria, and she shot him a cheeky grin. He knew she had seen this coming hours ago and was not so secretly thrilled at the implications.

He looked back at Bella, "Mind giving me a ride home?"

She shook her head, "No problem. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come over and hang out for awhile anyway since I need to copy someone's Biology notes for the past week. I already got Angela's for Trig and Government, but believe it or not, she left her Biology notebook at home today."

"Well, her loss is my gain I guess. You're just lucky I already got the notes I missed . . ." _from Mr. Banner's head. _He laughed quietly.

"Ugh, why didn't I think of that?" Bella threw her hands up in the air, disgusted with herself.

"You would have eventually. I just beat you to the punch." Edward reached out, taking Bella's hand and leading her out of the cafeteria. The crossed the lawn together headed for their next class. The world suddenly became abuzz with speculation. Their names were on everyone's minds and lips.

_Wow, looks who's Ms. Popular now._

Bella punched him lightly on the arm. _It's only because of you._

_Oh, I don't know about that. They usually try their best to ignore me and my family. I bet you would have gotten the same attention if you were holding hands with Mike Newton right now._

He felt a shiver travel down her arm, and the goosebumps raised on her arm. "Ugh!" _Anybody but Mike Newton. He gives me the creeps. _

"Glad to hear it." Edward squeezed her hand and felt the tension in her frame melt away from the slight pressure.

"Well, I'm glad to know all the attention isn't going to your head." She laughed. The sound of her laughter was like music to his ears. He could never get enough of it, and it had been far too rare during the time he had known her. Edward intended to remedy that situation as soon as possible. If there was anything he had to say about it, she would never be the scared, depressed thing he had encountered on her first day at Forks High again. He would do anything within his power to see to it.

They walked without speaking after that. The trip was a short one given the limited size of the Forks High campus, and they reached the Biology classroom far too soon for Edward's liking. However much to his delight, she laced her fingers around his own even tighter once they reached the more confined area of the classroom, leading the way over to their shared lab table. Only once they were settling into their chairs and removing the materials they would need for class did she let go of her grip on him.

The class began its normal routine with Mr. Banner taking attendance. The two of them dutifully answered when their names were called, and the class began in earnest. The entire class sighed in protest when he rolled the television out of the corner of the room, plugging it into the wall behind him.

"Now, now my good little students. I realize that I'm an incredibly interesting person to sit and listen to for hours upon end. However, there are more things in Heaven and Earth than your esteemed teacher can cover in one school year. So to that end, I will allow this video to demonstrate some things that the school board has not deemed safe for teenagers to experience in a hands-on manner." _Plus, I could use the extra time to get these papers graded before averages are due. I guess that's what I get for procrastinating. Ah well, this video ought to keep them busy for the next couple of days. _

Edward smiled to himself as the lights went down. The video was on the life processes of plants, and it was something he knew like the back of his hand, having gone over it approximately a million times since learning it originally in 1915. Surprisingly little had changed over the course of almost a hundred years.

_Well, this ought to be good and boring. I saw this same video back in Phoenix months ago. It was bad enough the first time around. I seriously hope Mr. Banner gets those papers graded soon._

Edward smiled. _Hey, at least there's nothing we have to concentrate too hard on. Just think of it as a brain vacation. _His fingers moved gently under the edge of the table and found her arm resting at her side. He allowed his hand to travel slowly down the length of her soft skin to find the palm of her left hand. He could hear her heart speed up with the contact of his skin on her own.

There was not such a great contrast between their bodies' temperatures as there once had been. Bella's temperature now ran around 86 degrees, while his own matched the temperature of the room at the moment. Rather than the typical 20 degree difference between them, there was only around a 10 degree variation. His skin felt as cold to her as her own would have felt to any of the others sitting in the room around them.

"Do you mind?" he whispered so softly that no human ears could hear.

She shook her head softly. He already knew she didn't mind, but he thought it would be polite to ask anyway.

_Do you mind if we "talk" to pass the time? I have a few things I wanted to ask you. _Bella glanced over at him expectantly.

_Of course, we can. I don't think we're really going to be missing out on anything by not giving our full attention to the class today. Do you?_

He could feel her shoulders shake with silent laughter. _No, not really. So, does this mind reading thing ever get any easier? I go home with a headache every single day._

_E_dward allowed his fingers to brush gently across the skin of her palm, upset that anything was causing her discomfort. _Well, I can only tell you what it was like for me. My gift was never as strong as yours while I was still human. I only had a general sense of the emotions that the people around me felt. I believe humans with the same ability are called empaths. I never was able to fully hear thoughts until after my transformation. And yes, I have gained a lot of control over my abilities with practice. It used to be rather difficult to be in large groups of people or vampires until I learned to tune out most of what was going on around me, but it took a couple of decades to perfect it._

_Decades? _Bella's eyes widened.

_Don't worry about it Bella. You have all the time in the world to work on it. _He squeezed her hand.

_All the time in the world? _She mulled the possibility, turning it over in her thoughts for a moment. The idea of infinity was a foreign one to her still mostly human brain. _ I guess I never really thought about it. I always assumed I would keep on living like everyone else until I met Carlisle. This is kind of new for me. I haven't really had the chance to grasp the fact that I will become a … vampire… when I die._

He could sense the hesitation in her thoughts when the concept of becoming a vampire crossed them. W_hat's wrong?_

_Nothing, I just . . . I'm kind of worried about what it will be like. You know – the transformation. _

Bella's thoughts brought to mind his own transformation all those years ago, and before he could stop himself, the memory of the burning pain flared to life in his mind. She pulled her hand away quickly, and the connection between them weakened slightly.

_I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to show you that…_

_It's okay. _Edward could sense the fear in her mind now. _Is it always that bad? The burning…_

_As far as I know Bella. I can't tell you what it's like for everyone, but for all of us, it was the same. But it ends Bella. We all made it through the transformation, and you already have so much venom in your system, it will go much more quickly for you. _

A small wave of relief washed over her, but it was not enough to quench the fear that had invaded her thoughts now. He felt regretful that he ever let her experience that memory without any warning.

_It's alright, Edward. I had to know sooner or later. At least now, I have time to prepare myself. Would you rather I went into it not knowing?_

_No. _

Her hand found his again, and she laced her fingers through his. _Bella, what happened to you? I know they held you captive for weeks. _His hand left hers and traced the scars that lined her arm. _And I know where these came from, but what was it like?_

In his mind, he heard her crying, and in between the sobs, there was a malevolent laughter that assaulted him. Her could feel the burn of venom in his veins and the ache of healing wounds along his neck and arms. Pain assaulted him from every possible angle, pain like he hadn't experienced for almost a hundred years. It took all the strength he could muster not to cry out.

The phantom of a handsome, blonde vampire filled his vision, and the rest of the world faded away. He found himself in a small, wooden room. The moonlight filtered in from a single window fitted high in the wall above him. In the corner to his right, was a girl curled into a ball on the uneven floor boards. He recognized the limp curls that lay across her face.

When he moved to brush the curls away, the vision undulated before him for a moment before returning to its previous state. Edward closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head to clear it before opening them again. The classroom greeted him when he opened them again.

"Are you alright?" Bella whispered, concern lacing her voice.

Edward nodded.

_I guess we both have to watch what we think about around each other, don't we? _He could sense the pain of the memories from her mind. Though they were long gone now, the emotional scars that they left behind would remain with her forever.

_I didn't know, Bella. Why didn't you tell me? _Edward regretted that she had ever had to go through that alone. He wanted to take it all away from her, even though he knew it was impossible. He vowed then and there that she would never experience anything like that again, as long as he was able to stop it.

_I tried. It's not something you can bring up in casual conversation. I'm not even sure I could find the words to tell you what it was like for me. Just trust me when I say it's not something that I want to relive, even as a memory. _Her thoughts grew silent, and he could tell she was using the droning voice of the narrator of the video to calm her thoughts. He decided to stop the questioning for now and allow her to forget about it all, at least for the time being.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the class period. Edward was careful to keep his mind clear of any serious thoughts, only allowing the superficial ones to rise to the surface. Bella's brain carefully steered clear of any sensitive areas, as well. He resumed the deliberate caress of his hand against the bare patch of skin near her wrist, pleased to hear her breath hitch with the sensation of it.

He moved tenderly to the small of her back, drawing his fingers in a leisurely manner along her spine. Drawing in his breath deeply, he drank in the scent of her, eccentric and captivating at the same time. He lingered for a moment when his hand reached the place where her russet curls touched the fabric of her shirt. The strawberry perfume of her shampoo supplemented her own natural odor nicely, and Edward savored the combination.

He could hear the rhythm of her heart dancing out of time to the normal patter of the rest of the world. This time not out of fear, but something else entirely. She held him utterly entranced, until the two of them were startled out of their daze by the ringing of the bell.

The silence of the room was filled with the scraping of chairs on the tile floor as the occupants of the class prepared to leave for the final period of the day. For Bella, that meant P. E., the bane of her existence. For Edward, Spanish loomed heavy in his future.

He watched her for a moment while she gathered her things, and after a second his gaze caught her attention. She looked up at him, and he couldn't stop himself from reaching to brush one of her curls from her face. She blushed slightly at the intimate contact before allowing Edward to drape his arm across her shoulder and walk her to the door of the gym.

"Be careful," he warned her before leaving her to go to his own class. "Wouldn't want anybody getting hurt now would we?"

She smiled, "I promise not to hurt anyone on purpose," and quickly turned to follow the stream of other students that were filing into the locker rooms.

Edward shook his head and beamed as he walked away.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

"You didn't have to hit Jessica in the back of the head with a volleyball,Edward chided her as they walked in the front door of Charlie's house.

"It was an accident. I swear." Bella's eyes widened in a feigned attempt at shock.

"Yeah, an accident." _I don't believe you. I know what you're thinking, and just because you were aiming for her back instead of her head doesn't make any difference._

"Well, she didn't get hurt," _much…_

Edward sighed and sat carefully down on the couch, while Bella plopped down next to him, grabbing the remote control. She lay back lazily, draping her legs carefully across Edward's lap, while the television hummed on in the background. Neither of them was really paying any attention to the story that was playing itself out on the screen; they were too wrapped up in each other to even notice anyone approaching the front door until the loud knocking disturbed the stillness of the room.

"Wonder who it is," Bella stood, reaching out and trying to recognize the presence behind the wooden planks of the front door. She recognized the friendly intellect at once. "It's Jake," and before Edward could even inquire who "Jake" was she darted to the door and flung it open.

"Bella," he beamed and stepped into the room. He made it a few feet from the door before he froze in his tracks. Jacob inhaled slowly, turning on his heels to face Edward petrified in his place on the sofa. His brows knitted themselves together, and Jacob took a few steps back. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Edward and I go to school together. We're, um, friends, I guess." Bella didn't know how describe she and Edward's relationship to herself, much less to Jacob. She could feel the jealousy coming off him in waves, but she realized it was more from a sense of worry about her safety than any kind of possessiveness he might feel over her. Jacob had intended to surprise her again this evening with the picnic lunch he had packed on the basket lashed to the passenger seat of his motorcycle. He figured she'd had a rough first day back, and wanted to come over to offer her a little company after school was over.

"Friends? Sure looks cozy for a couple of friends. Let me guess, you're studying?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Actually, yes. Is everything alright?" Bella was trying to steer Jacob back to his senses. She'd never seen him so hostile towards anyone in her entire experience with him. He had always seemed friendly towards any and everyone, so this response was something she didn't know how to deal with.

"I need to see you outside, NOW." Jacob placed a lot of emphasis on the last word of his sentence, and to Bella it sounded more like an order than a request. She followed him outside reluctantly.

_I'm right here if you need me, Bella. _She felt the pull of Edward's mind on her own. His concern for her, overcoming any irritation he felt with Jacob's rude behavior.

"Jake, what's going on? You were really rude to him back there. I mean …"

"Bella," he interrupted her, "you really have no idea what's going on do you?" His mind became a blank. There was something he knew that she couldn't be privy to, and whenever he broached the topic his brain went off her radar, like a ship disappearing into the night.

"What are you talking about?" She looked up at him confused before something clicked for her. Suddenly, she knew that somehow he knew exactly what Edward and the rest of the Cullens were, that he assumed she knew nothing.

"Look at me, Bella. You need to stay away from the Cullens. They're dangerous." His eyes were wide. Jacob was skirting the edge of something he couldn't just come out and say. He was trying as hard as he could to keep her from them without actually telling whatever it was that he knew.

"Wow, I had no idea I had two fathers. You're kind of young to have a kid in high school aren't you? Where do you get off telling me who I can't hang out with?" Bella thought that perhaps sarcasm would get him off the topic, but there seemed to be little that could deter him from the path he had chosen to take.

"Jeez, would you just listen to me instead of being stubborn. They're not safe…"

Bella thought for a moment, struggling on how to end the conversation without exposing herself to Jacob, but was unable to come up with anything that would steer him off his current path. She could sense Edward's agitation with the situation but signaled for him to stay where he was. The sudden appearance of a vampire would do little to dissuade Jacob from his current course.

"Jacob, it's okay. I know…"

He froze in his tracks for the moment. She could sense the confusion coming off him, and his thoughts were a muddle of contradictions. The main thought in his brain was the inability to comprehend how Bella would want to be near anything so dead and cold as Edward Cullen. He was disgusted with both of them at the moment, and he hated Edward with a burning passion. He could see himself tearing the hard, marble body limb from limb and then blackness, nothing.

"But I don't know what you are." She could see the shock building in his expression as he processed the implications of her statement.

"How do you know?" Bella wasn't sure whether he meant Edward or himself.

"Jake, do you know what happened to me back in Phoenix?" Bella pulled up her sleeve, revealing the patchwork of scars that crisscrossed her skin from the wrist to the elbow. "I know you know I was gone, kidnapped, for a month, but do you know what really happened?"

She could see the recognition in his eyes. He could see the individual teeth marks, and the way the sun glinted off them causing the light to scatter slightly. He sniffed the air, like an animal sensing danger, and backed away slowly.

"Your smell, it's wrong." He looked at her warily. "I smelled _them_ on you before, but I thought it was just from being around them at school, but this is your scent, isn't it?"

Bella's mind swam, her thoughts going in circles. _How does he know? Smell? Something's not right. I can't hear what he's thinking. Edward, what's going on?_

_Bella be careful. He's not sure what do make of you. If he thinks you're one of us, he's going to kill you._ She could hear Edward's warning loud and clear in the silence of the moment.

_You can hear him?_

_You can't? _She could hear the disbelief in his thoughts.

_NO.._

_He's a werewolf, a shape shifter. _Bella immediately went into high alert. Her senses seemed to slow the world around her to a crawl. She noticed every movement around her, tracking it all with some part of her brain she hadn't even realized she had.

During this quick exchange, Jacob studied her carefully from a distance. "You're not one of them." She couldn't tell if it were a statement or a question.

"Not exactly," she replied cautiously.

"But you're not human either, are you?" He eyed her menacingly.

"Not exactly," she could feel Edward on the other side of the door, poised to come to her side on a moment's notice.

Bella's muscles tensed to mirror Jacob's. He was conflicted about what to do next. Part of him wanted to attack and kill her on the spot, another part was curious and wanted to know more, and still a third felt compelled to seek advice from some higher authority.

"Jake, don't do anything stupid," she warned. "I'm not certain what you think you can do, but there's a full-fledged vampire here in addition to me. Do you really think you can take both of us on?" Her question brought Edward's presence rushing back to his awareness.

"What are you?" he asked her again, hoping she would give him a reason to back down.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She knew that he wasn't. Part of him believed her to be some new kind of vampire that he hadn't run across yet.

_And only the Cullens are part of the treaty…_

"Treaty? What treaty?" Bella hadn't meant to ask the question aloud, but the tension of the moment had her distracted.

"How did you know that?" The tautness that was beginning to fade from his muscles as his thought processes took over now came rushing back. Bella's vision swam red, an automatic response to the imminent threat the situation now posed.

"I didn't say anything about a treaty." The sentence became a growl.

"Edward, get out here." She called for him out loud to avoid startling Jacob again. She wasn't sure what effect the unbidden appearance of a vampire would have on him in this state. He was fighting off changing with everything he had and losing, and there was no way she was going to face him alone if push came to shove.

Edward appeared beside her in a flash. Jacob caught scent of him on the breeze, and his entire body shook with the force of the internal war that was going on inside of him. The air filled with a ripping sound, and before Bella realized what was happening, a huge red wolf filled most of the empty space in front of them. He stood there snarling for a moment, and suddenly he calmed.

A voice that Bella didn't recognize filled his thoughts.

_Stand down, Jake. That's an order. There's no way you're violating the treaty like this. Let the council decide. _

He shook his head as if attempting to disagree with the overriding authority, but he began backing slowly toward the tree line as if some outside force had him by the tail, pulling him away from the pair of them. He gave one last growl before turning and bounding away into the woods.

Bella waited until she couldn't sense him before relaxing her body and turning to face Edward.

"What in the hell just happened?" She demanded of him.

"Come inside and sit down. We need to talk in there." Edward scanned the street in front of the house for the presence of others besides themselves. "Come on." He tugged gently at the sleeve of her shirt, guiding her towards the front door.

Bella followed him reluctantly, the peace of the day and evening shattered. She allowed him to return to his spot on the couch before sitting in the chair. "Now, explain." It was a command rather than a request. She felt him considering his choice of words carefully before speaking. She knew what he was going to say before the words came to his mouth, but for some reason she needed to hear this out loud.

"Bella, this isn't the first time I and my family have lived in Forks. More like the third. When we originally came here, the only inhabitants were the Quileutes. What do you know about their legends?"

"Honestly, nothing," she replied.

"The Quileutes believe they are descended from an ancient race of warriors who mingled their spirits with those of the wolves native to this area. As long as they have kept record, there have been those among their population with the ability to become wolves, especially when the need to protect the tribe arose. They saw us as a threat, so the wolf pack was sent out to tear us to pieces. When they came upon us hunting in the woods, it perplexed their leader to see us consuming the blood of animals instead of humans."

Bella nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"Carlisle worked out an agreement, a treaty, between them and ourselves. If we would agree not to bite a human being and remain within the designated territory here in Forks, there would be no action on the part of the Quileutes. If either side broke the treaty, there would have been an all out war between vampires and werewolves here. We've co-existed peacefully until now, but I'm not sure what your presence means for all of this." He pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed a number. Bella knew that he was seeking Carlisle's opinion on the matter.

After a quick explanation of the situation, Carlisle asked the two of them to come over to the Cullens' house. The two of them climbed into the truck and wordlessly drove out to the edges of town. Bella's emotions were a jumble. She was excited, intrigued, angry, frightened, and in love all at once, and it was more than she could do to sort the feelings out right now. Instead she focused on the drive, putting herself on auto-pilot for the remainder of the journey.

Her nerves eased up a little when Edward placed his hand on her arm, caressing it gently, but she still felt the adrenaline and something else a little foreign coursing through her body. Her vision was tinged with red around the edges, and a quick glance in the mirror told her that her eyes glowed a pale crimson color.

When they arrived at the house, the two of them hurried into the house to find Carlisle standing in wait for them in the foyer.

"Nothing's happened here yet. I suppose we're just going to have to wait and see what their response it, but I thought it would better for all of us to be together just in case. We'd be much easier to pick off one by one than as a group."

Bella's heart sank at his words. She felt horrible for putting the family in such a situation, but it had been done with unintentionally on her part. Something in her gut had told her that Jacob wasn't entirely what he seemed to be, but she had no idea it was anything like this. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea that werewolves even existed when Alice spoke up.

"Something's coming. I can't see what, but whatever it is will be here in five minutes." Her eyes stared blankly into space. "Bella, I can't see what's going to happen." She blinked and looked apologetically at Bella.

"It's fine Alice. I brought this one on myself, and I have to deal with the consequences of it." She folded her arms across her chest. The air suddenly felt cold.

"That's nonsense," Esme spoke. "Bella, you've done nothing to deserve any of what's happened to you, but you insist on blaming yourself. It's destroying you. Please let us help you." There was a hint of pleading in her voice. "Let us be your family."

Bella could sense the motherly concern Esme felt pervading every word, and through Edward she realized that Esme already considered her one of her children despite the short amount of time she had been in their lives. It broke Bella's heart to feel love like that coming from someone she thought she barely knew. Her eyes stung with tears that she quickly blinked away.

Emse drew Bella into her arms, wrapping them tightly around her, and was quickly joined by Alice who embraced both of them. Not to be outdone, Emmett pulled all three of them into a giant bear hug, and Bella felt the air being squeezed out of her lungs from the pressure. Just when she was sure she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, Edward interrupted.

"Someone's here," he spoke mechanically. "They want to see Bella and Carlisle."

Emmett backed away, allowing Bella to move to Carlisle's side.

"Let me go with you guys," Emmett begged.

"No, please stay here. I would rather not have them more agitated than they already are, and you will be within reach if we should need you. Edward will let you know if anything goes wrong." Carlisle wrapped one arm around Bella's shoulder. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she sighed. She could feel the presence of two individuals waiting in the yard, but their brains weren't entirely human. Their thoughts were mingled with the thoughts of half a dozen others, but one thing was certain. They all found Bella to be a threat.

Bella and Carlisle emerged out onto the lawn at the back of the house to be greeted by two enormous wolves. Bella recognized the larger, reddish wolf as Jacob, but the other was black as night, with eyes that reflected the world around him, allowing nothing from inside to shine through. The air around the black wolf began to quiver like the heat waves radiating off the desert sand in summer, and suddenly the wolf was transformed into a young Quileute man with black hair cropped close to his head. He walked forward confidently despite his lack of clothing and stopped a few feet from Bella and Carlisle.

"I've come to deliver a message. The tribal elders have decided to hold a meeting to decide how to handle this new creature." He pointed directly at Bella. "_She_ has been summoned, and her fate will be decided there. Meet us here tonight at eight o'clock, and we will take you to the designated place. Fail to appear, and you will face the consequences."

"And the consequences are?" Bella replied.

"Death," he stated simply. "You may bring the leader with you but no others."

"She will appear, but I warn you wolf, no harm shall come to her under my protection, whatever your elders decide." Carlisle spoke with an air of authority.

"That remains to be seen," he spoke, and immediately the air was filled with a ripping sound. Sam's wolf form reappeared, and he turned plodding slowly back toward the forest. Jacob stood there for a moment, his eyes locked on Bella. She could still feel his internal conflict, but she couldn't find it within herself to feel sorry for him. It was Jacob that had brought all of this raining down on both herself and the Cullens. Breaking eye contact, she turned back to the house and left Jacob and Carlisle standing there alone.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A/N: Once more, real life intrudes on my fantasy world. I'm going to stop apologizing. I fully intend to finish this story, no matter what you might think, but it may be slow coming. My writing comes in spurts when I can find the time between work and family to get it done. I envy those who have time to write each day. I wish that I could manage it, but sleep has become a priority that I can no longer ignore.

That said, please enjoy

"I held on to you for as long as I could, but today you fell away. Now all I hold on are memories we barely made. I stood on the edge of your bridge until I felt the rain push me away. My confusion left me fast as the vertigo came."

"Anywhere But Here," Sick Puppies

"I'll take you for who you are now, if you take me for everything. . . I have the skill, yeah I have the will, to breathe you in while I can. However long you stay is all that I am."

"All the Same," Sick Puppies

Bella stood in the Cullens' backyard, dusk falling softly over the horizon behind her, and stared off into the darkening sky. Drops of misty rain spattered over her shoulders and hung sparkling like tiny diamonds in the hair that hung limply over them. A thousand possibilities ran through her mind, but still the outcome of tonight's chain of events hung uncertainly in the air around her like a lingering fog.

"I can't see anything Bella," Alice walked up behind her quietly, wrapping one arm comfortingly around her waist.

"I know. I saw . . ." she trailed off. Bella had witnessed everything that Alice could envision as clearly as if it had been playing through her own thoughts instead of her friend's. Alice could clearly see Bella and Carlisle setting off through the woods with Edward in tow and Bella and Edward's goodbye at the edge of the wolf pack's territory, but after that was nothing. Bella knew the very nature of the wolves made foreseeing any kind of future associated with them next to impossible. She had gleaned all this from Alice's fevered thoughts throughout the course of the evening.

At first, the tiny girl had been infuriated, then frustrated, and now saddened at her lack of ability to produce anything helpful for this girl who had suddenly fallen into their lives, seemingly out of thin air, but it was not in her nature to regret it or wish it had never happened. Bella had become as natural a part of their lives as any other member of the family, and it was a comfort to her to really know that they all thought of her in that way, as a de facto member of the Cullen family. That they were all willing to protect her, to die for her if necessary, simply because of the way their brother felt about her, and Bella understood that Alice's concern was as much for Edward as for herself. She knew that Edward was different since she'd arrived, more alive. That idea actually brought a giggle to her lips.

_Ironic, isn't it_? _But it's true, you know. I've been a walking dead man, going through the motions of living for quite a while now. _

She heard Edward's thoughts from back at the house without even the slightest effort.

_And the difference is?_

_You. You know that. _His voice sang through her mind, and it felt as natural as breathing for him to be there now. _ I feel as if I've woken up from a long dream. You know the kind where everything moves in slow motion? And when I finally opened my eyes, you were standing there, with that uncertain smile on your face. Then you ran from me, and even though you're standing right there, I feel like you've been running from me ever since. What can I do to get you to stop running away?_

_Nothing._ She could feel his disappointment at her incomplete answer, and she smiled. _There's nothing for you to do. I'm tired of running, and I really don't want to do it anymore, especially if it means running way from everything that I want in my life. So I'm going to stand my ground come what may and stand up for the only thing worth dying for. _

"He really loves you, you know?" Alice stirred beside Bella gently, reminding her of the tiny girl's presence.

Bella nodded. "I know."

"And you really do love him too . . ."

"I know." Bella smiled, and Alice squealed as softly as possible.

"Finally. I was starting to worry that he would never find you. I mean I knew you existed, but I was afraid that something had gone wrong . . ."

Bella froze, staring at Alice who stopped in midsentence, but not before the whole story played itself out in her thoughts. Edward alone at his piano, the music pouring out of it beautiful but achingly sad. Alone again, walking through the woods at night as the moon gleamed off his copper locks. Sitting on the floor in his room writing furiously into one of the many journals that lined the walls of his cell. The rest of the family happily paired off, while he spent his time in solitude, all the while hearing through each of their thought exactly what he was missing.

The images changed with the decades, the clothes and furnishings matching their time periods, but Edward was constant and unchanging. She wanted to go to him and let him that that part of his life was over with, but she didn't know if she could honestly tell him that. She had no idea what tonight's meeting held in store for her, or if she would even be able to walk away from the whole thing alive or undead. She sighed, pulling away from Alice's embrace and walking slowly back to the house.

Bella knew it was all up to fate at this point and that there was really no sense in worrying about it all, but her heart never had listened to her head. She could feel her pulse quicken and sputter at the eminent danger that faced her, and it took all she had in her not to make a run for it right now.

_What good would that do Bella? _She asked herself. _Every time you ran whatever it was you thought you were leaving behind landed squarely in your lap. May as well face it head on this time. At least you'll know what to expect. _

Edward met her in the doorway, pulling her into his chest and pressing his lips into the top of her head.

"What a way to start a relationship, eh?" She could feel him sigh into her hair, his cold breath ruffling the strands gently. "Well, I suppose if we can make it through all of this then nothing can stop us. A kind of trial by fire."

Bella pulled back slightly, looking into his face and clearly seeing the worry etched into his features. She wanted to take it all away, but there wasn't anything more that she could do.

Carlisle walked up behind them, laying one hand on Edward's shoulder. "It's time Bella." She breathed in deeply and let it out slowly.

"Let's go then." Bella moved to break his hold on her causing Edward to release her from his grip, but his hand trailed down her arm to catch hers.

"I want to go too."

"I know," she replied. "And I know there's no talking you out of it either." She looked over at Alice. "Just promise me one thing." He nodded.

"Wait for me. At the border between the two territories. No matter what happens tonight, I promise to find my way back to you there before the sun rises, but you cannot cross the line. I'm not worth a war between you and them."

_You're worth a whole lot more than that . . ._

_Just promise._

"I promise." She knew he was sincere, and she gripped his hand tightly before leading the way to the edge of the woods. Carlisle was waiting for them there, and Bella stopped abruptly at his side, the three of them waiting there for fate to find them all.

Only a few moments passed before she sensed something changing in the air around them. A now familiar smell drifted in, gentle at first but slowly becoming overwhelming. She closed her eyes for a second and could see trees rushing past from Jacob's point of view blocked occasionally by a flash of fur that must have been Sam. Bella didn't have to rely on any other sense to know that they would be emerging from the trees at any second now.

"Get ready." She wasn't sure if she was warning Edward and Carlisle or herself, but it didn't really matter. They were coming whether she was ready or not.

With a flurry of movement and the sound of tree branches being pushed roughly aside, the forms of the two wolves emerged from the forest and stopped abruptly at the edge of the lawn. Neither of them moved for a moment, studying the scene in front of them. Jacob wanted nothing more than to tear Edward limb from limb, but Sam was holding him back for the moment to keep the peace. Bella knew that Edward heard all of this just as clearly as she did, but his face did nothing to betray the disgust he felt at the wolves' presence in his domain.

Sam stepped forward slightly assuming an air of authority. He moved as if to signal them to follow, and took a few small steps back towards the shelter of the trees. When Edward moved to follow Bella, he whirled about quickly, a snarl escaping the lips that parted over his bared teeth. Jacob was at his side in an instant with an identical expression of malice on his muzzle.

Bella held her hands up, moving between the two groups so quickly that she hadn't even realized what she was doing.

"Stop!" she yelled at the top of her voice, the sound reverberating in the clearing. "Stop it now." She brought the volume down to a more normal level. "He's not coming all the way. He will stop at the border between the two territories. I swear it… on my life." She added it almost as an afterthought, but it seemed to placate Sam for the time being. He backed away slowly, the snarl fading into nonexistence. He still stood on alert, his muscles tense and ready to pounce at a moment's notice, but his thoughts were no longer intent on what he perceived as the threat that three vampires posed against two wolves.

Already in his mind, he had her classified as one of them for lack of any better word to use. She was just as good as one anyway you added it up. He'd seen the way she moved, the speed with which she came between the two groups, and the volume that her voice reached when it ran away from her unchecked. Even from this distance, he could sense the temperature difference between her body and his own. Just like one of them.

She _was_ just like one of them, and becoming more so every day. Her temperature dropped a fraction of a degree each day, and her senses had picked up to the point that she was able to detect the difference. She slept less and less each night. Edward had noticed some of the changes as well, and while they were both conscious of the differences, neither of them spoke about it to the other. They both knew full well what it meant.

_He stops at the river. Only you and the leader can travel past that point. _

Bella nodded. "You have my word."

It seemed to be enough for him, plus the thought that the rest of his pack waited for them at the self-same river was enough comfort. Six wolves against three vampires was more than a fair fight even if they were attacked before they reached the others. There was plenty of time for them to come to his assistance, so he turned striding quickly towards the forest. Jacob was slower to move, reluctant to turn his back on them for even a moment, but even he couldn't overcome the will of his pack leader. After a minute, he turned around, following unenthusiastically.

Bella moved backwards, taking Edward's hand in hers, before moving towards the same exit Sam and Jacob had taken. Carlisle followed closely behind. The three of them moved at almost a human pace until within the darkness of the woods. Not even the light from the newly risen moon could reach them through the dense foliage that hung over them like a canopy, but Bella could see perfectly as though the trees were lit from within.

She heard the crunch of leaves beneath the wolves' feet from just ahead and turned towards the sound. They looked back one final time before breaking into a run. Bella took a deep breath and did the same, her speed picking up steadily until the trees whirred past her head, distorted by her momentum. She knew without even looking that Edward and Carlisle were right on her heels. They ran like this without speaking, the only noises those from the creatures of the woods as they took shelter, hiding from the strange quintet that intruded on their space.

Bella enjoyed the feeling of the cool night air rushing into her lungs, savoring the scent of the fir trees that brushed against her body. For the moment, she was able to regain the same feeling she'd had gliding along on the back of Jacob's motorcycle, and the thought of what a good time the two friends had shared twisted a knife in her heart.

James had ruined everything that she had ever wanted in her life. He had taken away her childhood, her carefree existence. When other girls her age were planning for dances and parties or studying for exams, Bella was fending off werewolves and vampires.

He had ruined the chance for her to trust anyone fully ever again, even Edward, especially Edward. How she could simultaneously love and fear him was something she didn't fully understand. She wondered if it would ever pass or if it would be a stumbling block between them for the rest of her mortal life.

He had ruined any chance she had for friendship with this boy who had brought her out of her self-imposed solitude. Jacob's warm heart had helped thaw something out inside of her, but now this thing kept them from even being able to talk to each other in a civil manner.

Her parents would never see her grow older, go to college, get married, have babies, any of the things that parents wanted for their children. At the rate that things were going, they probably wouldn't even get to see her graduate high school.

All this passed through her brain in a few moments. The distance to the river was minute compared to their pace, and they reached the borderline before she was ready. The group pulled up, stopping just short of the water, and they all turned towards her expectantly.

"Can we have a minute?" She looked at them all, raising one eyebrow. Carlisle nodded and moved towards the banks, bridging the space in a single bound. Sam and Jacob waded in slowly, forging through the water that flowed past their legs strongly. The rest of the pack waited impatiently, yipping and snapping in their excitement to get going, on the other bank.

Bella put her back to the scene, putting it all out of her mind for the moment.

"You will wait for me, right?" She suddenly felt shy, unsure of his answer to the question even though he'd already made his promise.

"Forever, if I have to." He smiled at her.

"Let's hope not." The last thing she wanted to do was turn to leave him, but she knew the others were growing increasingly agitated as the moments ticked by.

"We won't be able to hear each other so far apart, will we?" He asked the question she'd been dreading since this afternoon.

She shook her head, taking her bottom lip between her teeth, a nervous habit she'd developed as a child, and looked down towards the forest floor.

"I love you, Bella."

She looked up into his eyes. He meant it; she would have known if he didn't. The words brought tears to her eyes. It wasn't the first time she knew he loved her, but it was the first time she'd heard him say those words aloud.

_Please don't cry. I don't think I could take it if you did. _She could sense his anguish at her sadness and his apprehension about what the rest of the night would hold for the both of them.

_It's okay. I'm crying because I've never actually heard you say that to me. I don't think anyone has ever said that to me besides my parents. _

He reached forward, brushing the pad of his thumb across her face and wiping away the single tear that had drifted down her cheek.

"Well, I can promise you it won't be the last time you hear me say it. I intend to say it to you for the rest of my existence if you will let me." He leaned in, gently placing his lips against her own, and the familiar feeling that the rest of the world ceased to exist took over Bella's brain. There was no one there but the two of them. Time stopped; the Earth ceased to turn on its axis. Only Edward and Bella remained.

He kissed her like it could be their last chance, and her head swam with the intensity of it. She pulled him to her tightly until their bodies melted together. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, despite it's newly slowed pace, and the thundering blood rushed through her ears, drowning out any other sounds. She was on fire, consumed body and soul, and she vowed to never be afraid of him again, no matter what else might happen. A sharp bark from across the river brought them back into reality.

_Let's go… NOW. _Sam's patience had reached its breaking point.

She pulled away. "I have to go…"

"Stay." His eyes begged her not to leave him here, but she knew there was no use running from it anymore. Whatever was meant to happen would find her sooner or later, so she may as well head into it with her eyes wide open instead of letting it sneak up and catch her unaware.

"You know I have to go." _No matter how much I want to stay._

"I know."

Bella backed away an inch at a time.

_Wait for me…_

Edward stood stock still, frozen in place on the rocks that lined the river banks.

_Forever…_

She couldn't look in his eyes for another second if she actually intended to leave, so she broke eye contact, fording into the river. The cold water caused her to draw her breath in sharply as it soaked into her socks and the denim of her jeans. She forced herself not to look back, because there was no way she was going to be able to make it across if she did.

Dragging herself away from him was like trying to escape gravity. Not only was it next to impossible, but it just felt wrong. He was the force that was holding her down to the planet, and she was voluntarily walking away from him. She pushed the analogy from her thoughts as her feet hit the dry ground on the opposite side of the water.

Without a sound, she pushed her way on through the crowd of wolves that parted to let her pass. She strode on back into the trees. Bella went forward, the connection between Edward and herself fading with the distance that was growing steadily larger between them, until there was not even the slightest inkling of him in her mind. It felt like she was missing a limb.

The rest of the group followed her closely, Sam speeding up to take over the lead from her. He was obviously impatient to get back to La Push, as he set a grueling pace for the entire journey. Before she knew where she was, Bella was out of the trees in a village filled with low flat houses. She recognized this place from her visit here with Jacob just a day ago. It seemed like years had passed since then, when in reality it had only been hours.

The village looked different in the moonlight. During the day it had seemed friendly, charming even. Now it held an edge of menace, as if something dangerous were lurking around every corner. The flicker of firelight danced from between two buildings up ahead, and Sam seemed to make a beeline for the source of the constantly shifting light.

Bella followed closely, and suddenly her senses were assaulted with the force of a few hundred people whose thoughts were all intent on her. Many of them were confused, not sure what to think. A few were bloodthirsty, picturing her body on the steadily roaring bonfire that stood in the large clearing where they had all assembled to wait. Only one was completely clearheaded, withholding judgment until all the facts were presented. This was the person that held her destiny in their grasp.

Bella focused on these thoughts, trying to determine who it was that she was so dependent upon for the moment. She wasn't able to determine which of the sea of faces the thoughts belonged to, but their calmness gave her hope.

After a moment, she entered the clearing. Everyone in La Push was there, waiting and watching to see what would become of this stranger in their midst. They were all able to sense something other about her, and it made her feel like an outsider once again. There wasn't any world she was able to fit into completely, neither human nor vampire.

One person emerged from the crowd, and the entire group settled into a hush. Not even the sound of a child whimpering interrupted the quiet that had fallen over the clearing. She looked closely and discovered that the form that was causing all of this was that of an old woman, the oldest woman she had ever seen. Her face carried the evidence of the passage of dozens of years, and wisdom radiated from her expression. This was the mind whose thoughts had calmed her a moment ago. She was obviously some kind of leader in the community, but Bella was uncertain what her official title was.

"Hach awi," she spoke, and her voice was soft, powdery like fresh snow. The crowd was silent and her voice rang out through the whole clearing, despite the fact that she spoke without much effort. "Welcome. You all know why we've gathered here tonight."

There was a murmur from the crowd that quickly subsided when the woman took a breath to begin speaking again. "The Quileute are an ancient race. We all know the legends of the first people to settle this peninsula. K'wati, the Transformer, happened upon a pair of wolves in the forest, and seeing no people in the area, he transformed them into humans saying, 'For the reason you Quileute shall be brave, for you came from wolves.' This is what the Hokwat – the outsiders – know of us, but we Quileute know that from time immemorial the wolves have returned to us in moments of dire need to protect and defend the tribe."

Bella saw heads nodding in the crowd. They were all familiar with this particular story. "When the Xos Chitakido – Cold killers – came to our land the wolves once again arose among our children. We have struck a deal with these cold ones to keep the peace in our land, but there is a new presence that we must account for." The woman gestured towards Bella.

"Isabella Swan, come here please."

Bella stepped forward to the woman's side as she stood bathed in the firelight. The heat from the fire warmed her chilled skin, but did nothing to stop her shivering. "Many of you know Bella's father, Charlie. He is a familiar face here on the reservation, but he has no knowledge of his daughter's situation. Is that correct?" She looked over at Bella expectantly.

"No, he doesn't know," her voice didn't carry nearly as well as the elderly woman's.

"And you, leader of the Cold One's. What can you tell us of her state?"

Carlisle stepped up, standing on Bella's left. "Shamaness, I have been able to research much of her condition during a short visit I made to Italy. From what I can gather, she is a Dhamphyr, a hunter of vampires. She has the physical abilities of a vampire without the lust for human blood."

"She is not a drinker then?" The woman pondered the idea for a moment. "What is to become of her as time passes?"

"She will become one of us at the time of her death. Until then, she remains as you see her now, strong, fast, but vulnerable like any other human. She'll not age, and theoretically I suppose she could live forever just as she is as long as no mortal injury occurred to her."

"Much like our boys then." She nodded to where Sam and the others stood, still in wolf form, behind the fire.

"Very much," he replied succinctly. Bella watched the discourse between the two of them. They were surprisingly friendly for mortal enemies. She felt hatred towards Carlisle coming off the rest of the group, but the shamaness regarded him as part of the same strain as the Quileute. Like two sides of the same coin. Bella knew from her thoughts that she knew the Cullens to be honest. There had been no incident between the wolves and vampires in all of their recorded history, and there was no point in starting something now without reason.

"Who caused you to be this way?" She looked back to Bella. "One of the Cullens?"

"No ma'am." Bella felt the need to be polite. "The one who did this to me is long dead."

"Ah, I see."

Bella caught something from the old woman, a whiff of a vision. Carlisle setting fire to the coven house back in Phoenix. There was much more to her than met the eye.

"By your hand, Xos Wil?" She interrupted Carlisle before he had a chance to respond. "Yes, I have seen it, and the girl, you are responsible for her life. By that token, you shall also be held responsible for her actions." She turned to address the crowd. "Hear me and know that I speak the truth."

The words held an air of ceremony about them, and something in the air changed then. The group sat mesmerized. Bella knew that whatever the old woman was about to say would be binding, that none could violate her decision without severe consequence.

"This girl, Bella, is not one of the Xos Chitakido, even though it is her fate to become so in the future. Until that time, Xos Wil, leader of the Cold Ones shall be accountable for her. If she should cause any harm to come to the Quileute or any other humans that hold her no ill will, his life will be forfeit for the trespass."

Bella cried out at the pronouncement but was quickly hushed by a touch from Carlisle.

"Do you accept, Xos Wil?" She looked him in the eye, waiting for a response.

"I do. I swear on my life that she shall cause no harm to any innocent in her current form, and upon her death and transformation, I will take her into my family as one of my own children, teaching her the ways that we have learned. She will abide by the pact set forth between myself and Ephraim Black from that time forward."

"And I swear on my life that no harm shall come to her or any of your clan from any Quileute on pain of death, unless you violate this vow." She turned, laying a hand on each of Bella's shoulders. The woman was tiny. Bella hadn't realized it until just now. Her head came up to Bella's chin, but she could feel the power that flowed through her hands.

"So it is spoken, and so it shall be done. Now go," she released Bella as she turned to speak to the assembled crowd. "By my word none shall cause harm to come to her. She is not our enemy. We serve a common purpose. I have seen that she will be a great warrior, destroying the bringer of death when he arrives. She has already brought the final death to one of the drinkers; more shall follow in her wake."

Bella didn't know how she knew what had happened or what was going to happen. Only bits and pieces of pictures flashed through to her. The woman was able to stop much of it from being passed over. Faces, pale as death, flashed white in the sunlight. Bella recognized none of them, but she knew she would soon. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

A/N: Ok, so. I know you're probably wondering what the Quileute words mean in this chapter. I pieced what I could together from the Quileute nation's website. There is no word for vampire or Cold One in the Quileute language since Stephenie Meyer made up that legend for her books. However Xos means "cold" and Chitakido literally translates to "He/She is a killer," so I thought the combination was a fitting name for a vampire. The shamaness refers to Carlisle as Xos Wil, Wil meaning the number one. If I have royally screwed up the language please forgive me. My only experience with Native American languages is with Cherokee, which is nothing like Quileute (at all).

I did do a lot of research on Shamanistic legends and culture in the Quileute nation. Apparently, they attributed many powers to their shamans including the ability to shape shift which I thought was interesting (although they transformed into a serpent rather than a wolf).

This chapter is unbeta'd by anyone except me; any errors are my own.

So bring on the compliments, questions and complaints, lol.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 22 –

A/N: Keeping it short, thanks to Le_Crepuscule, louisabecks, chartwilightmom, and psyche001 for staying with me through that epic 120 minute WC in which most of this chapter was written. Thanks to my Team Fire and Ice girls for keeping me happy and in the mood to write. Thanks to all of you who have been on my Southern Twinights podcast and given me the help I needed to find the time to get this done. And last but not least, thanks to all of my readers. You all have my love. This chapter is for you. *mwah*

"_Memories consume, like opening the wound._

_I'm picking me apart again._

_You all assume I'm safe here in my room_

_Unless I try to start again._

_I don't wanna be the one the battles always choose_

_Cause inside I realize that I'm the one confused._

_I don't know what's worth fighting for_

_Or why I have to scream._

_I don't know why I instigate_

_And say what I don't mean._

_I don't know how I got this way._

_I know it's not alright._

_So I'm breaking the habit tonight."_

_Breaking the Habit__, Linkin Park_

When the tiny woman left the circle, Bella felt an energy draining from the air that she hadn't even realized was there. With it went all of Bella's reserve. She felt the tears that had been threatening to brim over the surface all evening begin to flow freely down her face, tears of relief and sorrow mixed together into one overwhelming emotion. She felt her shoulders slump and her knees begin to buckle beneath her.

Carlisle reached out to catch her just before she collapsed. She buried her face in his chest and simply sobbed in mourning for all the things he had lost and in relief for all the things she had not. His hands smoothed her hair over her heaving shoulders.

"It's alright, Bella. It's all over now. Everything's fine," he cooed to her gently in a voice that adults usually reserved for fussy children. His arms around her allowed some of her strength to return, and she stopped crying for the moment.

"For now." Her reply was sharp and succinct. "But there's more coming." She pulled away from his embrace, swiping at the moisture that coated her cheeks with an open palm. If anything the old woman had said was correct, any peace that Bella might find would be short lived. There was no way she could ask Edward and the rest of the Cullens to be part of that, much less Charlie and Renee who were essentially defenseless against the threat that these unnamed enemies posed. Everyone she loved was in danger, all because of her.

Bella suddenly noticed Jacob standing alone on the opposite end of the clearing. The rest of the wolf pack was gone, and most of the village was already back at home, on their way to bed. He was clad in nothing more than a pair of jean shorts. She couldn't read the expression on his face, and his thoughts were a jumble of mixed emotions.

The thought struck here that somehow all of this was his fault. Before she could stop herself and begin to think rationally again, she rushed across the grassless ground towards him. Her large strides closed the distance between them quickly. Jacob didn't move as she made her approach.

Carlisle yelled for her to stop, but something in her was past reason. She quickly closed the gap between them, stopping just short of actually crashing into him. Raising one hand into the air level with Jacob's head, she swung, and the blow landed squarely on his left cheek, the force of it causing his neck and face to twist and distort in the opposite direction of the strike. When her hand returned to her side, she looked him square in the eyes, all the hurt and rage radiating from her expression. Everything lay still and silent waiting for one of them to make the first move.

A million emotions played through Jacob's mind before he settled on one. "I'm sorry." The words hung in the air between the pair, unanswered.

Bella turned without replying and made a direct path into the woods, leaving the entire scene behind her. She crashed through the trees blindly, allowing instinct to guide her steps. The branches of the trees snapped in her grasp and scraped roughly along her arms. The cold night air was stinging her exposed skin, but she drove on relentlessly, until she was thoroughly lost.

She plopped down on a nearby fallen tree and simply focused on breathing for several long moments. The adrenaline slowly worked its way out of her blood, and she could feel herself gradually returning to normal. She considered all the possibilities that lay before her.

Bella could run, just like she always had. Even as a "normal" teenager, she'd run away from anything that was difficult or hard. She supposed it was a trait she'd gotten from Renee. It felt like the pair of them had been running away from things since the day she'd slammed that door in Charlie's face so many years ago, but she was tired of running.

The only other option was to wait and let trouble come to find her, which seemed inevitable. At least here, she wouldn't be alone. Something told her the Cullen's could take care of themselves in a fight, so there was little to really worry about there, despite her gut reaction. However, it would be left up to her to protect Charlie from all of this. She thought of her father with apprehension . He seemed like a defenseless child to her now, which was a strange switch. All her life, her father had been a rock in a churning sea of trouble. The waves touched him but never washed him away.

Now, there were forces that were much bigger than anything Charlie Swan had ever dreamed even existed in his quiet life back in Forks. Monsters, straight out of fairy tales and nightmares, seemed to lurk around every corner just waiting to eat her up like an unsuspecting Little Red Riding Hood. What they didn't expect was that this particular Little Red Riding Hood came with a bite of her own.

The thought of leaving Charlie here in a hotbed of nightmare creatures struck Bella as the worst possible thing that she could do right now. Obviously, the others knew she was here; they'd already found her here one time, and this would be the first place they would come looking when they came back for her again. What would they find when they arrived, her father alone and helpless, a waiting victim, or Bella, prepared, ready, and with back up.

She steeled herself, rising from the log a different girl from the one that had sunk onto it only a few moments before. Something inside her was strengthened by making a decision. Bella wouldn't go out looking for trouble, but if trouble happened to find her then so be it. Trouble had been following her around most of her life anyway, so better to be safe than sorry.

The thought of backup reminded her of what was waiting for her just on the other side of the river. She looked around herself for a familiar landmark and wandered towards the sound of water flowing that reached her acutely attuned ears from the distance. She'd traveled a few hundred yards through the darkness when -

_Bella?_

Edward's voice in her thoughts was tentative and uncertain.

_I'm fine Edward. Where are you?_

She saw the spot where he stood waiting. He hadn't moved an inch since she'd left him. How long ago had that been? It felt like a lifetime, but it couldn't have been more than an hour.

_I'm right here. Where are you?_

_I don't know. _She laughed aloud at herself. What kind of an idiot had she been to go charging off into the woods on her own with God knows what out here watching her from the safety and seclusion of the surrounding trees. If werewolves and vampires were real, what else could be out here lurking in the shadows?

She half expected Freddy Krueger to ride in on a unicorn and hand her a message from the Easter Bunny. It honestly wouldn't have surprised her.

A roar of laughter echoed through the trees off to her right, and she dashed towards the sound. She emerged from the woods next to the river and found Edward grinning from ear to ear.

"The Easter Bunny? Really?" He smiled, and the warmth of it brought a smile to her own face.

"Well, it was either the Easter Bunny or Santa. I _know_ Santa's not real because I caught Charlie putting together my first bike when I was four, but I've never caught anyone leaving out eggs and chocolate candies for me to trip over." Her reply was delivered with a dead pan expression, and Edward broke out into a fit of laughter at the answer.

He breathed in deeply to calm himself before speaking again. "Carlisle's already back at the house by now."

"So I'm guessing you know what happened then?" She looked at him expectantly.

"You mean you punching a werewolf in the face?" He raised an eyebrow at her at the end of the question.

Bella shook her head gently. "It was more of a slap than a punch. No, I mean the whole thing."

"Yeah," his voice trailed off. "What are you going to do?" _Don't run,_ he begged her silently, locking his eyes with hers.

"I wasn't planning on it." She was sincere in her reply.

_You thought about it. _He knew because it had skimmed along the surface of her thoughts at his plea, but it was out of her mind now.

_Thinking about it isn't the same thing as doing it. I plan on staying right here, until you want me to go. _

Edward reached out to take her hand. _Well, you'll be here forever then._

"Forever is a long time." She twined her fingers around his.

"I hope so," he smiled again, full of warmth and concern for her. Her heart broke at the sight of it. No one had ever looked at her in that way in her life. Her parents loved her, they always had, but Renee relied on Bella to take care of herself so often and had often taken for granted that Bella was strong enough to handle it all. Charlie had been absent from much of her life, though it hadn't been his fault. The few times she'd been to visit him, she never let him know if anything was bothering her or concerning her so he'd always just assumed that everything was fine. Lately, he'd been plenty concerned, but there was little warmth in his thoughts, only fear.

Only Edward gave her the impression that there was some hope for her situation. If her ultimate destiny was to be like him, she could think of plenty of worse things to be. She'd seen too many of them up close and personal.

"Did you really punch a werewolf?" He laughed, and the memory of it dragged her out of her musings for the moment.

She smiled, "Yes. You don't believe me?"

"I just don't believe you're still alive after all that." He reached out and stroked her face softly with the pad of his thumb. "I'm glad you are, but I was ready for anything."

"I know …" She couldn't find any other words to respond. She'd been prepared for it all to end right there in that clearing as well. Now that she had the rest of eternity stretching out before her, she felt like she had a lot more breathing room.

" You ready to go home?" A simple question, so loaded with meaning. Home…

No place had felt like home in awhile. She'd had houses, always. But homes? Not really. She and Renee had lived in a string of places, and when she'd begin to feel settled in one place, they would inevitably relocate, even though they'd been in the same city for years. Charlie's house in Forks had always been just that, Charlie's. She'd never been more than a visitor there since her early childhood.

Home.

Could there be such a thing for her finally?

Bella nodded, and allowed Edward to pull her along behind him back to the Cullens' house. The grass was lit by the light that came pouring from the thousand windows that lined the back wall. The entire family waited for them at the back entrance, the same expression of concern filled with love adorned each of the faces there, and Bella for the first time in a long time felt at home.

A/N: So I pulled this and all the rest of my stories from Twilighted. My apologies to those of you who read on Twilighted. I realize that I've lost a metric fuckton of reviews and readers by doing this, but I have my own personal reasons for doing it. I'm not going to rehash them here, but if you want to look into things I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find out why I wouldn't want to post there anymore. I mean no offense to all of the excellent and wonderful people who post and validate there, but a few bad apples spoil the bunch. My stories are still available on FFn and MVF for those of you who are interested in reading them.

There is more coming for Bella the Vampire Slayer. Stick with me. I know I'm slow to update, but I hope each one is worth it. Let me know what you think.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 –

A/N: I just posted an outtake of this story from Alice's POV. It's also on my FFn profile titled "Twisted Paths." If you like this story, go give it a read. It might give you some more insight about what's going on here.

Well, this is it, the last chapter. It's been a long time coming, so I'll just get to it without further adieu.

-x-x-x-

"What if I wanted to fight, beg for the rest of my life  
What would you do? You say you wanted more  
What are you waiting for? I'm not running from you

Come break me down, Bury me, bury me  
I am finished with you. Look in my eyes  
You're killing me, killing me. All I wanted was you

I tried to be someone else, but nothing seemed to change  
I know now, this is who I really am inside.  
Finally found myself, fighting for a chance.  
I know now, this is who I really am."

~The Kill, 30 Seconds to Mars

-x-x-x-

Time began to pass quickly, and before Bella knew what was happening, six weeks were gone. Only three more weeks remained in the school term before summer break. It seemed strange that so much time could have passed so uneventfully after the hustle of her first two weeks in Forks.

She felt like things were settling into something of a routine. Like any normal teenaged girl, her days centered around school and homework. However, her evenings were anything but normal. She spent most of her free time with the Cullens, in training. In training for what she couldn't say. Bella had no idea what the future held in store for her. Even Alice could only catch brief glimpses, more like photographs from the future than true visions.

The one thing that she refused to let happen was to let anything catch her unprepared again, and because she wasn't sure what to expect, she decided that she needed to be ready for anything. Jasper had begun working with her on fighting techniques. Strength and speed were never an issue for Bella, but strategy was a whole world that had never even crossed her mind. Fortunately, being able to tell what your opponent was thinking made it a lot easier.

Bella's development in that area was part of Edward's domain. The two of them had spent hours on end together, practicing. The first thing she'd learned was how to focus, to pick just one voice from the dozens that milled through her consciousness at times.

It was easy to pick out one of the Cullens. Their thoughts always came through loud and clear, a beacon when compared to the dim bulbs that all the humans around them possessed. According to Edward, he experienced much the same thing with Bella. At times he'd even implied that she came through even more clearly than any of his siblings.

The second thing the two of them had practiced was tuning out as much of the din as possible. Currently, she could bring it down to a low hum in the back of her thoughts, no more intrusive than the myriad of background noises that she'd been accustomed to dealing with her entire life, but never completely silent.

Consequently, Bella had become a much happier person, to Charlie's great relief. He took it as a positive sign that she had found some new friends here in Forks, and Dr. Cullen's foster children seemed bright and well-adjusted for their age. Certainly they'd never been into the normal teenage mischief that many of the other Forks youth seemed to be determined would drive away the monotony of small town life.

If he noticed anything more than friendship between Bella and the youngest boy, he kept his thoughts to himself on the matter, and Bella didn't see any need to disillusion him on the subject. He'd been through enough stress over Bella's well-being in the past six months without adding the protective instincts of a father for his only daughter into the mix.

Carlisle had made it his mission to find and share as much information about the dhamphyri with Bella as he possibly could. His limited knowledge, gleaned from the few books he could peruse during his prior visit to Volterra had been supplemented by ancient manuscripts that he'd acquired from various private collections throughout the world.

He was afraid to go back to Italy or request any further information from the other vampires of their acquaintance. He'd been able to pass off his previous visit as idle curiosity. Further inquiries would only draw unwanted attention to their already precarious situation, and the last thing any of them wanted was to let anyone know who or what Bella was until it was absolutely necessary.

Together, they'd merged the ancient writings and modern science to develop a few theories about Bella's condition and what she could expect over time. Her cells had changed after ingesting the venom. Rather than being consumed by the venom, her human blood cells had mutated becoming something neither human nor vampire.

Vampire blood cells were basically sacks of venom carried around their now defunct arteries and veins in a soup of proteins. When they came into contact with human or animal blood, they consumed it, using the nutrients in the cell for energy and regeneration. In a strange twist, Bella's cells seemed to be able to burn the venom itself for energy while still maintaining the machinery necessary to burn sugar just like any normal human body.

Through trial and error, mixing venom with combinations of the various substances that it might have come in contact with when Bella drank it, they determined that stomach acid weakened the venom sufficiently so that it began transforming her body's cells but wasn't strong enough to complete the process by killing her cells. They now sat in a state of limbo waiting for something else to cause her death and ultimately complete her transformation. Until then, any further infusions of venom would be burned off by her blood providing her with a more or less temporary boost of energy, stamina, and mental capacity, sort of like a shot of caffeine to most people, but infinitely more powerful.

Alice's visions were stifled because of Bella's dual nature. She was neither fully one thing nor the other, so it made things much more difficult to pin down, but they were all encouraged that none of Alice's predictions involved anything other than what they already knew was coming – vampires and eventually Bella would be one of them.

The link between Bella and Edward was something even harder to explain. Carlisle found a description of another dhamphyr who had gone into a sort of stasis after being wounded in battle until his wounds had completely healed, but he hadn't taken anyone with him into his trance-like state. The only reasoning they could come up with was that Edward had formed some kind of a psychic link to Bella when he touched her. His powers worked better when he was in contact with someone, so it stood to reason that his touch locked them together in a dream state until Bella was ready to wake. Neither of them was able to remember what had transpired during that time no matter how hard they might have tried. Bella could only get brief snippets, mostly things that haunted her dreams anyhow, so she gave up after a few weeks of trying.

Not that she had too many dreams anymore. Most nights she got no more than a couple of hours sleep all together and even that was in fits and starts. It seemed that her mind wouldn't shut off even long enough for her to rest at night. Fortunately, it hadn't seemed to affect her health. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. The gaunt, bedraggled looking girl that had boarded the plane in Phoenix had been replaced by a rosy cheeked teenager. Even her hair was shiny and had grown by a couple of inches since she'd arrived. Renee wouldn't have recognized her if she came for the visit that she was constantly threatening to make.

Bella's life had become so consumed with her quest to be prepared for all comers that she hadn't noticed the time of year until it was on her. The posters and flyers lining the walls of Forks High hadn't escaped her notice so much as gone ignored. Her mind knew that it was spring and what that entailed for your average junior in your average school, but something inside her dismissed it as mundane and filed it away as just one of the many things that was going on before she arrived and would go on just as well without her. She was shocked almost senseless when Alice arrived at her front door, garment bag and makeup kit in tow one Saturday afternoon in early May.

"What are _you_ doing here, Alice?" She raised one eyebrow after opening the door abruptly.

Bella saw the answer before Alice could even open her mouth to reply.

"Oh, no." She backed away slowly, leaving the door between them open.

"Oh, yes." Alice closed the distance between them and closed the door behind her. Laying one hand on Bella's shoulder, "You know I'm going to win right?"

Bella saw the whole argument play out. She would stammer, sputter, try to back out of it with a million excuses, but Alice would have none of it. She'd made up her mind that Bella was going to go to the prom, and there was nothing anyone on Earth was going to do to change that. Bella threw her hands up in exasperation and grumbled, "Well, I guess there's no point in even trying to argue with you about it then, is there?"

"Nope," Alice replied brightly.

"Well, at least let me call Charlie and let him know where I'll be. He's out fishing with …" One hand held in the air was all it took to stop her in midsentence.

"Already taken care of. I talked to him last week, and he agreed with me that it would be a great idea to get you out with some other kids your age." The know-it-all grin plastered over the tiny girl's face was enough to make Bella want to punch her in the nose.

"You sneaky little…"

"Tsk, tsk. Language, Bella." Alice feigned surprise at Bella's demeanor, but Bella knew she'd expected all of this and was prepared for that and more in the way of resistance. Bella decided the best way out of the situation was to just take the path of least resistance.

"Let's get this over with," Bella replied, her voice filled with resignation.

She allowed herself to be led upstairs as quickly as a pair of vampire legs could drag her unwillingly. Once inside her room, the next four hours were filled with the most excruciating torture imaginable. Implements of destruction such as eyelash curlers and tweezers were laid out carefully on the desk in preparation, each of them wielded by an expert in delivering the optimal results from her tools.

After four hours of this exquisite torture, they emerged from the one time sanctuary of Bella's room. Bella teetered exhaustedly downstairs, balancing precariously on the heels of the unaccustomedly high shoes that Alice had literally forced her feet into. The blue satin of the shoes was dyed to perfectly match the blue of the gown that now swished and flowed around her ankles with each step. Bella had never wanted to kill a vampire more than she did at this precise moment in time.

But her heart stopped beating for a moment, when she looked up from the floor to see the expression on Edward's face as she descended the steep stairs of her house. She'd known when he arrived and that he was waiting for them in the living room on Alice's orders, but this was the first time that either of them had seen each other. Alice had kept her thoughts carefully cloaked when she was scurrying around Bella in a fury of hair spray and mascara, so that Edward's first sight of Bella would be with his own eyes.

She only let one tiny thought slip during the entire process._ She's going to be beautiful Edward, I promise. _

He took her hand when she reached the bottom of the stairs and helped her down onto the safety of the level carpeted floor of the living room.

"Alice made me," he said simply, by way of an excuse for the entire situation.

"It's ok," Bella smiled a little. "She made me too."

"Well if a vampire hunter can't stop her, there's no hope for any of us." He laughed.

"Damn straight," Alice replied quickly. "Now, you two get out of here. You're going to be late."

"What about you? Aren't you and Jasper going?" Bella wheeled around to face her and spoke accusingly. There was no way that Alice was going to make her go through this experience on her own.

"Of course, silly. I have to get home and change first. We're going to be fashionably late. See you there." She was out of the door in a flash, leaving the two of them standing there awkwardly in silence.

"You look," he paused for a moment, trying to find the right word, "wonderful."

She felt herself blushing, something she hadn't done in quite a long time. "I'm glad you think so. I haven't even seen myself. Alice wouldn't let me anywhere near the mirror in case you saw what I saw."

"Well let's fix that." He took her hand again, and she saw with impeccable sharpness every detail of the room through his perfect vision. He looked down to where she stood in front of him, and the sight of it made her catch her breath. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought she was a vampire already, but she never would have guessed that it was really her beneath that veneer of perfection. Her skin had an iridescent sheen to it, almost a glow. Her hair was perfectly shaped and styled, not a strand out of place. The dress fit her to a T, like it had been tailored just for her. Knowing Alice, there was a strong possibility that it had been.

_Yes, that's really you. _He laughed again. _You're going to make a beautiful sight on the dance floor._

Bella groaned, "Oh, God. The dancefloor…"

"What?" Edward replied in a panicked tone of voice.

"Edward, I can't dance." She buried her face in the palm of her hand.

"What do you mean, you can't dance?" He pulled her hand down and placed his fingers beneath her chin, drawing her face up to meet him.

"I mean I can't dance. I never have withoutdoing damage to myself or others," she confessed. In truth, all her previous attempts at rhythmic movement had ended in someone needed at least first aid. Once she landed herself in the emergency room with a dislocated knee cap. Needless to say, dancing was not Bella's favorite pastime.

"Don't be ridiculous, anyone can dance." He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand, but she was certain he didn't understand how serious she was.

"Not me," she said finally.

"Here, I'll show you." He reached out to take her in his arms and pulled her close. This, at least, felt comfortable, and she began to relax slightly. Edward placed one of her hands on his shoulder and took the other in his, dropping his remaining hand to her waist. "Just follow me and everything will be fine."

She took a deep breath, focusing all her attention on moving her feet, and tried to follow along with Edward. Her shoe got tangled in the hem of her dress, and she tripped, nearly toppling the both of them over onto the floor.

"Stop trying so hard, Bella." He picked her up and set her clothes to rights again before continuing. "Now, look into my eyes, not at your feet."

She looked up, locking gazes with him and heard a melody begin to play though his mind. The song took over her thoughts, and she allowed her feet to move of their own volition in time to the music. Before she realized what was happening, they were moving in graceful circles on Charlie's living room carpet. She smiled, feeling truly happy for the first time in awhile. No thoughts of impending doom weighed heavily on her heart or mind for the moment. The only two people who existed in the world were dancing here in this tiny room.

-x-x-x-

Meanwhile…

Laurent bent low his long hair brushing the floor before he rose to face the dais before him. The three chairs that rested there held the forms of three ancient faces. He smiled, malice flashing in his eyes, before approaching them cautiously.

"My lords, I have some news I thought you might find intriguing…"

A/N: Yes part II is coming, don't know the title yet, but it will be starring the Volturi in the role of the villains. I'd like to send a big thanks out to all of you who stuck with me through this story. I've put you all through hell, and I'm apologizing now. It's taken me a lot longer than I ever intended to get this done, but it was worth it all.

To those of you who helped me out along the way, many, many thanks. Whether it was a kind word on Twitter or in a review, sitting with me through a WC, betaing a chapter or 10, giving me some inspiration in the form of pictures, songs, poems, or just being my friend, you all made it possible for this to happen. I would have quit a long time ago without you.

The list of names of those who have played a part in it are too long to put in a single author's note, so I'll refer you back to the previous 23 chapters. I've mentioned you all at some point or another, but one more time THANKS!

If you felt like I've left you hanging, you're right. I have, but Bella's at a little break in her story. Much more is coming, and this is a good stopping place to give her a little breather before the storm begins.

Hugs and kisses y'all,

C. Blue


	25. Twisted Paths

Storyid: 6543466

Name: Twisted Paths

Author: cereuleanblue

Chapter 1 to 1

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Chapter: 1

Note: When I heard it was your birthday coming up, AltheaJams told me what a big fan you are of Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I knew you liked it enough to recommend it on the blog, but I didn't know you were a fan . So, I thought you might like a little outtake from the story, since the last chapter should have been posted by your birthday (fingers crossed).

Happy Birthday! It's people like you who give me the courage to keep plugging away at this whole writing thing. Thank you for all your kind words and support.

I thought you might enjoy a little outtake from Alice's point of view. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer. Don't sue me if I do it better than you ;)

-x-x-x-

Alice POV

Someday, we'll all be able to sit around and have a good laugh about the whole thing, but today won't be the day. I hate keeping things from my family, but I know that if they know whats _really _coming, they'll do anything to stop it from happening. I can't say that I would blame them; it's a horrible thing to have to do, a horrible decision to have to make. Without foreknowledge of the outcome, I wouldn't be able to make it, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

When Carlisle made his decision to head to James' coven house in Phoenix, the events that were set in motion inevitably led to Bella boarding that plane to come to Forks. I had plenty of time to practice keeping my thoughts on the matter to myself. Luckily, Edward was taking advantage of the holiday break from school to go back to Alaska, along with Esme, to visit the Denalis. Jasper and I had remained behind in Forks to celebrate Christmas on our own.

I saw it all in a flash. The broken girl in a tattered heap on a filthy wooden floor. Carlisle throwing her attacker across the room and picking her up so gently. Rushing with her from the house as the flames licked up the walls of her one time prison. James' mate frantically dancing around the flames, trying fruitlessly to find a way back into the structure. The girl laying motionless in the cool night sand of the desert then on the crisp white cotton of a hospital bed. Covered in tubes and beeping monitors. Weeping, curled in a tight ball on the floor of a shower, cold water raining down on her head, the hot having run out long ago. The weeks passing around her while she remained stagnant, caught in the past, wrapped in a memory she was unable to free herself from.

She was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her mind had grown used to the fact that she was destined to die and was unable to ever return to its previous state even though the threat of imminent death had been removed. She didn't know what really caused her to jump into action on that March evening when she gathered her clothes into a beaten old suitcase and reserved a seat on the earliest possible flight to Washington. Her talents hadn't given her the ability to directly sense the danger the watched her from afar, but something struck her subconscious – a glint of crimson disappearing around a street corner or some faint scent carried on the dry desert breeze. She hadn't known how close to her doom she had been or that Victoria had been stalking her, day and night for over a week, waiting on the opportunity to catch her alone, unaware.

When she boarded that plane, her future condensed into two distinct possibilities. The outcome hinged on my brother's decision, and I knew him well enough to know that if he knew all the eventualities, he'd have gone to any length to remove himself from her life. In doing so, he would have destroyed the both of them utterly.

Although, if I were faced with the option of either being responsible for the demise of the one thing that I loved most in the world or allowing that thing to be the end of me, I'm not sure what I would choose. I am certain, however, that my judgment would be infinitely clouded by my feelings, and I also know my brother well enough to know that if he is led by anything, it's his emotions.

Now, Bella, on the other hand, is a creature ruled by instinct. Sometimes, she is remarkable to behold in her sparring sessions with Jasper on the lawn behind the house. Her feet move in a blur, and without the need of more than a twitch of thought from her brain, or so Edward tells me. Whatever comes of all this, she will make through on her gut or not at all. It's only betrayed her once, but she learned a lesson that her instincts will never let her forget again.

Together, they are quite the pair. The vampire with a conscience and the vampire hunter with a heart. Buffy and Angel look out. They each fill in the blanks the other leaves, together making one smooth whole.

I'm still not certain what the final outcome of all of this will be. It wavers back and forth from time to time, as all the parties involved consider their options. There's more to it all than either of them really know. The results could change the way that our entire world operates forever, or it could be the end of us all.

Overall, I'm optimistic about our chances. Fate can be a cruel mistress. No one knows that better than I, but more and more often what she tells me bodes well for my family. She makes no choices and forces no one's hand, but she _will _lay all her cards on the table when the time is right. She always leaves it up to us what we decide to do with the options that she gives us and enforces the choice we make to its ultimate conclusion.

I'd do anything it took to keep my family safe, even if it means lying to them. If that makes me a bad person, then I guess I'm a bad person. But I'm a bad person who keeps my loved ones out of harm's way. I just know that my brother would be a pile of ashes by now if I'd let him know everything that I know, and Bella would be in the arms of the Volturi, locked in a tiny cell to spend the rest of her mortal life in captivity. Who would that have helped? The Volturi, I suppose, but I could care less about making their existence even one iota better.

In the end, Edward and Bella are soul mates, a matched pair. Those two belong together, and they're a match made in Aro's worst nightmares. I'm going to do everything I possibly can to help it along, and the downfall of our enemies is just a pleasant side effect. The possibilities have become quite distinct, and more and more often, I am seeing a happily ever after for the two of them. Cross your fingers.

-x-x-x-

Happy Birthday

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	26. Away From The Sun A sequel

Note: Just wanted to let you guys know, I am posting a sequel to this story titled Away From the Sun. The first chapter is up. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading. You guys are the reason I keep writing.


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